Forming Shape

Now for the real deal. I mock up the pieces using my own measurements. I literally put newsprint on my body and rough out the shape of the armor. It feels like the easiest way for me to create a proportional template for the whole body, because I will always have my own proportions to return to.

I then use newspaper to stuff up the three-dimensional shape of the armor, adding a little paper mache to cover the whole form with a smooth layer of newsprint. After that, I apply plaster on top to bulk up the shape.

The first time I did the plastering, I worked while the plaster was still very wet and liquid. When I tried to smooth it with a rasp, as shown in picture three, the bumps and dips were very visible. I then added three more layers on top of the first one, sanding and rasping between each to create a smoother surface.

I made the chest plate first because of its sheer size. My thinking was that if I could make the biggest piece work, the rest would be a cakewalk. There was quite a lot of trial and error with this first piece, and the extra sanding and bulking that came from those mistakes made me a bit scared of what I had started. But it also gave me the confidence to finish the other parts. I think I made the right choice doing the big one first; I would have been much more stressed if the thought of failing on the largest piece lingered while I worked on the smaller ones.

Vacuum Forming

The technician said it was not possible. A common thing technicians say to me. I cut the chest plate into two pieces. The first piece was the one I worried about because of its shape. Vacuum forming works best when the form has no sudden drops in contour and the highest point sits in the middle. This one had neither.

I also stuffed clay into the areas where the plastic would otherwise get sucked in and ruin the vacuum. Next time, I would wait a bit longer for the clay to dry. The vacuum was too strong, and the clay deformed while forming, which made the demolding much harder later.

I also did not take the colour of the plastic into consideration. Darker colours like purple made it hard to see my drypoint and carborundum marks, and difficult to ink properly. It basically complicated every later step.

The technician recommended that I do the vacuum forming somewhere else, maybe at a car factory, since they have industrial machines that can handle larger shapes and thicker sheets of plastic. I think thicker plastic would have helped a lot. The one-millimetre sheets were a pain because of how flimsy they were. Due to time restrictions, I went with these materials because they were the only ones available.

The merging part was a pain. How do you merge two pieces of plastic smoothly with only a one millimetre thick surface area? The answer is you don’t. But I tried anyway.

At first, I used epoxy clay to join them. It sticks to almost anything, is easy to mould and can be sanded. It snapped off after it dried. The second time, I used strong tape to hold them in place first, then added the epoxy to connect them. After some sanding and scraping, it stayed together well enough.

All of these problems came from not having a big enough vacuum forming machine. If I ever make something equal or bigger than this again, I’ll find somewhere that can do it for me. All these hassles are not worth the time. I also accidentally scratched some of the plastic, but luckily the sculpture is detailed and large enough that the small marks are not obvious.

I was so excited after I managed to stick the two halves together. I ran to the foundry to cast one of the first life sized pieces of armor I had ever made. I used normal plaster. That was when I started to realise how quickly the consistency of plaster changes from liquid to solid. There is a short window where the plaster has the texture of wet sand, soft enough to mould but firm enough to hold its shape.

The steep contours on the sides of the armor were especially difficult. The surface was too smooth for the plaster to grip onto, so it kept sliding off. I was surprised by how tough normal plaster is. It still shatters easily if I kick it, which I did later, just for fun. The seam line where the two molds joined was very obvious, but I hoped the illustrations I would add later could cover most of it.

At this stage, I was still worrying about how to display this massive armor set. Would breaking it apart like in picture three work? If it was broken and half buried in the ground, it might look like an excavation site where a medieval armor had just been uncovered, an armor that carried history and stories. It would also hide many of the imperfect casting marks. More importantly, it would guide the viewer to read the work in sequence and draw them into the mystery of this armor. It is an idea I want to explore further in the future. Relics.

After I knew it was possible, I dove in to create the whole body. I only made the pieces that were necessary. For example, I created one shoulder piece and used it for both the left and right sides. It helped me meet the tight deadline. The more I made these pieces, the better I became at building the paper mache to plaster models.

I was pleased with most of the plaster models, but some of them felt out of control. The shapes were simply untamable with my current skill set. With patience, I managed to shape them into forms that resembled each armor part.

Here is a small reminder to myself: wear gas masks. Protection is important for artists. The materials we use often come with hazards, and taking care of the body is the most important part of a long and healthy career.

I also found that smoothing plaster is easiest with a knife. Scraping it with the blade creates a shiny surface. I switched from using wooden boards to aluminum sheets as the base. They make it much easier to peel the plaster off and cleaning is a breeze.

Making of forms

The finger is a problem on its own, The plaster form is very hard to make once it got small like the finger, I made them but it doesnt loook anything like a finger, more like a sausage. Vac forming them wont look hood, so for the finger, i chose to use the aluiminium plate as base, then bend them to match the curvature of my fingers. The fingers didnt even make it into the final exhibition, but an attempt was made, sop i want ot document it here. ALso here is the finished sculpture ready fgpr vac foprming. With all the extra plaster i put on for smoothing, it ended up much bigger than me. It was really satisfying seeing all my hardwork put onto thee floor for the first time. I am very content with the proportion of the figure. Easpecaillly the hand where i propped it up, looks like a real hand trying to push the body off the floor.