# The Hatbox Ghost



## Buzz (Aug 26, 2011)

Here's the sculpture for the latex mask I'm making this year. Its inspired by Disney's Hatbox Ghost.

















Started applying the Ultracal 30 last night. It took me 3 more small batches of the mix to get it to cover the whole thing. The stuff kept pulling away from the sculpture as you can see.










Tonight I apply the burlap soaked in Ultracal.


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## trishaanne (Aug 20, 2005)

WOW...that is AWESOME!!!!!


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## skeletonowl (Aug 8, 2006)

Awesome sunject! The hatbox ghost is a great character with a mysterious past, perfect for Halloween. Your mold looks great so far!


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

He looks eerily like soneone I know

Nice sculpt!


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## Pumpkin5 (Aug 8, 2010)

:jol: That is FANTASTIC!!! That character is one of my most favorites, he is creepy but he is still smiling at you. Greenstreet Originals used that mask in one of the life size ghosts that he made. I miss his website, his ghosts were so cool. Looks like you have got a great start. Please show the finished ghost, I really love your work!


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## MrGrimm (May 19, 2009)

That is one fantastic project! Wow! Can't wait to see how he turns out!


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## Buzz (Aug 26, 2011)

Thanks. Right now I'm just hoping for the best. 
Never done this sort of thing before and I'm starting to think I should have attempted a practice mold on something else first. I'm keeping my fingers crossed... but that makes it rather difficult to type on my computer. :jol:


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## kprimm (Mar 14, 2009)

Awesome sculpting job! He looks great. You are a talented sculptor.


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## Volscalkur (Feb 15, 2010)

Very cool! I love the expression. Your mold is looking great too.


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## Buzz (Aug 26, 2011)

Thanks... just hope the detail coat went well...
Here it is about 1/3 of the way thru the front half of the mold. Kinda reminds me of the face on Mars.









At this stage I noticed that the border edges were kind of thin. I wrapped some duct tape around it, laid it back on one hand, and poured the plaster with the other hand.









Finally done with the front half of the mold. Hope to do the back half tonight.


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## nixie (Sep 17, 2008)

Very nice!


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## Buzz (Aug 26, 2011)

*need help fixing mold*

After completing the back half of the mold I brought it inside to fully dry.









Last night I reviewed Alan's _Making a two part mold_ video (part 2) to see the steps for removing the mold. Although I didn't have as many pry points as I probably should have, it seemed to open OK.

(My son was bummed that the original clay sculpture got damaged. I kept explaining to him the concept of the mold and that this was the best way to preserved the piece. But he just pouted an walked away.)

After removing the front half of the mold, I inspected my work. I was expecting air bubbles galore, yet it looked pretty good. I was thrilled..... until I noticed _*"it"*_. 









I waited too long between applying the front half of the plaster and the back half. A small gap appeared near the ear before I applied the plaster to the back half and as a result some of the plaster flowed into the ear. In addition to that the release next to this point didn't work so well.









OMG. Is this fixable? Does anyone have any ideas to help me save this mold?


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## TroyO (Sep 7, 2011)

I'm having trouble seeing exactly what happened, but it sounds like you have extra plaster in the ear area?

Could you maybe use your sculpting tools to carve out the imperfections followed by some sanding to smooth and feather the repair in to the rest of the mold? I've used that trick before and had it work out OK... I usually get it to that point where I know it's there but noboby else ever notices, LOL.

I've had better luck with that than with trying to add plaster pack in to a voided area.


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## Buzz (Aug 26, 2011)

TroyO, I'm not sure if the plaster leaked into the ear or if I just didn't get a good release right there. But yes, I have plaster in the ear.

If I can get it out in one or two pieces, I was thinking I might be able to glue it back to the other half of the mold where it belongs. Do you think that might work?


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## TroyO (Sep 7, 2011)

Yeah, I think that would work. One thing you also might find usefull is this stuff...

http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/ProductDetails.aspx?SKU=10941

Once you get the basic shapes carved out you can use the putty to recreate the missing bits.

Once you get the cavity the right shape you can pack the putty on to the key/seal area and squish the mold together to recreate the key/seal. Use something kind of heavy as a release.. maybe vaseline?


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## Buzz (Aug 26, 2011)

After taking months off to do other stuff... travel with my bride, install hardwood floors in a couple of rooms, gardening, plumbing repairs, etc... I got back to work on HBG.

I went with the bluish-white skin tone, and punched the hair in.










Still need to paint the gold tooth and... do I need to put some sort of sealant on this?

Meantime, I began working on his body and cane. As you can see the body is 1" PVC. I bulked up the legs with pool noodles covered in painters tape. Then I used Mod Podge and white tissue paper to cover up the blue tape and give it some texture.










For the cane I used 1/2" CPVC (just because I had some left over from the plumbing project). I rolled up plastic grocery bags and then taped them to the pipe haphazardly. Then more tape to smooth things out. I then covered the tape with brown tissue paper and more Mod Podge. Later I will protect the tissue paper with clear spray sealant.










Back to the head, I'm going to fill it with 2-part poly foam. This will make it more rigid and allow me to embed a PVC pipe in it for mounting to the frame. I bought Monster Makers 1.5 quart kit... which is wayyyy more than I need for 1 mask. Does anybody know how much I should mix up?


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## Buzz (Aug 26, 2011)

Found a YouTube vid "How to Foam Fill a Bust" that helped me decide the amount of poly to use. Sweet. :jol: Filled and mounted the head over the weekend.

But now I want to fill out the body more, especially the shoulders and back to create that hunched look. I think that soft foam (like upholstery foam) would work best. But what I saw at Jo-Ann Fabrics was pretty darn expensive.

Anyone know of a cheaper source for soft foam? Maybe scraps or discarded packing material...


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

You can also use chicken wire to bulk out the frame. Just wear gloves when you handle it because you get a lot of sharp edges when you cut the wire.

This guy is looking really good.


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## Buzz (Aug 26, 2011)

Thanks Roxy. I need to put up a picture with the head on the body.
I was considering chicken wire. I used hardware cloth on a toddler I built last season. But I don't like the way fabric the snags on the pointy edges. HBG is much larger than the toddler and I'm afraid something might tear.

Has anyone tried paper mache over chicken wire?

Gonna stop by the fabric store this afternoon and see if they have any scraps of foam for cheap.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Papier mache works very well over chicken wire - Spooky1 has used it successfully for a couple three props now. What he does is bend under any sharp edges, covers the chicken wire with a layer of masking tape, then adds as many papier mache layers as needed. If you look at his Demon of the Dark Woods Showroom thread, you'll see a recent example.


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## Buzz (Aug 26, 2011)

Thanks Roxy. The other nice thing about going with paper mache is that I can paint it white. HBG's coat has tattered holes in it and I certainly don't want to be able to see yellow foam, PVC, or pool noodles through it. Oh yeah... and it won't soak up rain water if I happen to put him outside.

Been working on the hands the last couple of evenings. I cutout foam palms and made fingers from craft wire, segments of 1/4 plastic tubing, and masking tape. Now I'm wrapping the whole thing up with more masking tape. I plan to cover them in paper mache using some twine to show the tendons on the back of the hand.







Here's a pic of HBG with his head on. In this shot I've stuffed some plastic bags on his right shoulder under his coat to visualize how I want his humped back to look.

Still need to make those shoes and craft him a transparent cloak too. Tick-tock, tick-tock.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

He's very striking looking. Love that ghostly white sheen he has.


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## Buzz (Aug 26, 2011)

Over the weekend I built up the body with chicken wire covered in paper mache. Stopped just short of too much. Had a really tough time putting his coat on over that hump.










The hands came together nicely too. I took the hands and dipped them in my casting latex a few times. In the end... a pair of poseable latex skeletal hands. Need to paint them now and attach.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Those hands came out beautifully - so gnarly looking.


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## hydehaunt (Jan 22, 2008)

*Outstanding!*

Great job! Any chance you would be willing to make and sell the head? I am a huge HM fan and I would love to feature this prop in 2013! Thanks ang great haunting, HH


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

The hands turned out great!
Did you sculpt these from WED, or do the tape on wire route?


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## Buzz (Aug 26, 2011)

Thanks.
I used Bone Dancer's method to initially form the hands. I glueed balls of tissue paper to make the knuckles. Then I brushed on a coat of casting latex.

After all that dried. I dipped each hand in the casting latex 3 times, letting it dry in between each dip.

The end result are poseable latex skeletal hands. I painted them with the same paint I used on the head. Next time I think I will mount the hands before dipping... other than that I'm pretty happy with the end result.

The hands have been mounted. More pictures soon.


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