| Step 1 The first thing done on this custom was cutting the bottom of
Anakin's robe. Saesee's robe has a long piece hanging almost to the ground in the
center with the rest of the robe at about the middle of his shins.
Step 2
I sanded the neck of the Anakin torso a bit (with a Dremel, but it's not necessary - just habit) to allow room for the clay. I added a small portion of clay
for the chest, making clavicle impressions with a paintbrush stem. A small clay
snake was used to create the divider, the top part of his "undershirt."
Step 3
I put the two torso halves together around the waist peg
and baked the piece. (I was only curing the small
bit of clay which was only used on the front of the torso. However, I baked the
piece together with the legs in place to thwart warping. The neck and arm sockets
don't seem to warp easily. Bake one piece of a torso and don't expect it to fit snug with
the other half.)
Step 4
Before sculpting anything else I textured the robe and
arms. Saesee's robe is ribbed. I attempted to duplicate this by running a
coarse-grit piece of sandpaper down the robe and arms in the same direction. (I went through that trouble though I did not attempt to smooth the
inner robe which would be more accurate. Don't ask me why I do or don't do the
things I do - or don't do.)
Step 5
I cut off Anakin's hands and inserted pieces of paper clip
in the wrists to act as armatures. Saesee has slightly oversized hands with the
fingers webbed in pairs to the middle knuckle (index
and middle fingers are webbed to each other, ring and little fingers are webbed to each
other) with no distinguishable nails.
Step 6
After sculpting the hands I rolled clay out to create the
cuffs for both the inner robe and the outer robe. After applying the clay cuffs I
scored the outer cuffs with the same coarse-grit sandpaper as above in order to match the
plastic of the arms. The arms were cured by themselves in the oven.
Step 7
I used Xizor's head as a base because it had a prominent
eyebrow ridge and I had no other plans for the spare piece. I changed the mouth and
added to the cheekbones (though I should have added MORE) and jawline. I also added clay
to form the horn areas and shape the head more
accurately. (Paintbrush stems and jeweler's
screwdrivers were used for this shaping.)
Step 8
The horns were sculpted separately (textured with a pin) and placed
into the "horn holes" before baking. (NOTE:
The horns should lay closer to his face to be accurate. I chose to have them out
further to increase the range of motion of the head.)
Step 9
All of the pieces were painted separately before
assembling. Paint is very important to the head. There are four different
colors used for the flesh tones (in layers). The horns were washed in a pale
yellow/cream and washed at the ends (and
"roots") in a pewter gray (which bled through the pin scoring - excellent!).
Step 10
They eyes do have the black rings (ala Ki-Adi Mundi). First painted the
eyes white, then added a "large" dot of black and allowed to dry. Then I
added a smaller dot of yellow and allowed to dry. It was finished off with a tiny
dot of black, thus creating the effect of rings.
Step 11
Glued the pieces together and I've now got a fully (well, normal anyway) articulated
Saesee Tiin.
Recipe provided by: Stephen Hayford at Rebelscum.com
Stephen Hayford |
