Slow But Sure Wins The Race!

When installing the mechanics you don't see the progress happen as much as when you are sculpting something. This part takes time and patience. You want all things to line up so the mechanics move smoothly and without binding or making noise!


The eyebrows, eyes and mouth have been installed. I added the tongue to the mouth, however it will not be a stick out tongue. The eyes are covered with wax paper so that paint will not touch the eye itself when I paint the head. When the paint dries, the wax paper is easily removed.

Here you can see the installation of the mechanics. This is as far as I can go until the control post in fastened in place.

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The control post is made from 1 1/4 inch dowel and has been notched to accept 1/8" brass hardware. the deep cut is for the side to side moving eyes and the shallower one is for the raising eyebrows

The circle drawn on the post will be drilled for the mouth string to travel down to the control lever.

Here is how the brass tubes will look when installed. Well, back to the workshop to try and finish the mechanics and get ready for a final sanding and then to begin painting!

Getting Mechanical with the Mechanics!

The framing for the mouth, eyes and raising eyebrows mechanics have been started. Next I have to start on the control post. Time and patience are needed so that everything will line up correctly which will allow the movements to move silky smooth! So far so good!!

I think the stick out tongue will not be installed on this figure, but maybe on a future figure! We'll have to see how things go!

Installing the Mechanics!!

Before I install a control post I like to install the eyes and mouth first. When these are finished I attach the front and rear of the head. By installing the mouth and eyes with just a half head (front half) this allows me more working space. When the two halves are together, installing eyebrows is no problem as I will have plenty of room through the trap door.

The Eyes rest on a platform. A piece of brass rod is bent and then travels through the center of the eyes and then secured in the platform.

The eyes add a look of life to the character. When the eyebrows and paint are finished, he will look very realistic.

Still debating the stick out tongue!!

Meet the Cast!!!

The back of the head, mouth and tongue have just been cast. They are fresh out of the mold and a light sanding will be needed for thing to line up properly!

I can already hear him complaining!!!

An EZ Mouth Mother Mold

The mouth mother mold is also made with the plaster of Paris wrap. I make a two piece mold for this.

As you can see to silicone mold fits into the larger portion of the mother mold and then the small fits on top. A rubber band will hold the mother mold together and then I can slush cast the mouth.

One thing I did on this mouth mold was to leave the brass pivot tube in the mouth when I first molded the mouth. I did this so I could cast the pivot tube in the mouth at the same time I cast the mouth. This is a time saver!!

To save time for future figure making, a mold of the tongue, mouth and eyebrows have been made. A plaster mother mold will be made for the mouth to add support when casting the mouth.

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Because of the shape of the eyebrows (and how they contour around the forehead), I made the mold of the eyebrows on the head

Because the mold is so thick around the tongue and eyebrows, I will not need to make a mother mold for them. Simply pouring the urethane into the molds will be sufficient.

Now that the molds are made, Time to Cast them!

Ok, Where Have I been?

Ok, so I have been getting a lot of e mails to where I have been and what is going on with the figure building. Well' it goes something like this, I renovated my kitchen! It was way over do and needed to be done. As you can see a lot of work and trust me, a lot of headaches, but it is now finished!! So now what? You guessed it, "Back to "Figure Making"!!