House of Shadows

This is the fifth article in the series featuring the work of Laurie Franklin of Diamond Bar, California. If you want to read all posts related to this series, click on the link for Vampiress Morbidia in the Category drop-down menu in the sidebar.

Now that Vampiress Morbidia has a head and torso it’s time to look at the support structure and techniques Laurie uses in assembling the body parts. The stand is constructed using ¾” galvanized pipe. A flange to anchor the pipe is attached to a base made of two pieces of ¾” plywood that are glued and screwed together. Laurie adds caster wheels underneath to help move the prop around.

What I have described is the finished support system. You will notice in the pictures that often time’s supports appear to be made of PVC. Laurie uses the PVC supports during the sculpting process but the finished prop is put on the sturdier galvanized pipe structure. The working, or PVC support system does not have wheels, you don’t want the prop to move around while you are working on it.

Laurie finds it more comfortable to sit while she sculpts the head so she places the foam wig head on a 1” dowel and clamps it to the work bench so the head is at eye level. You could also use an adjustable vice to hold the dowel. The important thing is to have a way to adjust the height and angle of the head as you work on it.

So now we should be at the point where the head is attached to the torso and it’s time for Morbidia’s creator to add arms. As you can see in the pictures below, Morbidia’s head and torso are completely covered with Plastic to protect work that has been finished so far. The basic shape of the arms is formed with aluminum rain gutter wire, duct tape and Celluclay while the armature is temporarily attached to the body. Once the Celluclay is dry, Laurie adds Paperclay to get a rough finish on the arms.

The arms are removed from the torso for finish work as a precaution, because the seam where the arms attach is a weak point in the structure. When the work on the arms and hands is complete Laurie attaches the arms in their final position using bolts with rubber washers, both inside and outside, to protect the body. DAS or Paperclay can be used to cover the bolts and seams on the outside giving the sculpture a seamless appearance. This step was especially important with Vampiress Morbidia because her dress is planned to be an off-the-shoulders style.

As you look at the pictures below notice the use of foam to fill in vacant areas and protect the sculpture from rubbing against the metal. You want the sculpture to be well-supported at stress points to protect it from cracking.

I apologize for the brief delay in posting for this series. Madame Turlock’s back was being cranky and expressing some displeasure about sitting at the computer. Tomorrow we will look at how Morbidia’s hands are sculpted and attached…

Thank you for being our guest at the House of Shadows.