Making monster from «Amnesia: The Dark Descent». Part I

  This is how Grunt’s head finally looked. I’m satisfied of his ears especially, they look like real. Sculpturing is pleasant in general. You have time to think about affairs while massaging your creature. While sculpturing remember to use oil, otherwise you’ll have blisters, by the way.

  I still needed an exact model of the mask but there was no any mold. So I covered a framework with a soap foam and a hair lacquer, then covered with latex using a stamping method. Yes, such method will not render any details like texture, small wrinkles, etc. but I had to neglect them. Latex cover turned out to be thin – only 3-5 layers, on the back it’s thicker. I didn’t cover the ears. Finally I got a thin latex mask with crooked edges. Then put it away for a while.

To avoid any risk, I relied on the technique that had never let me down – papier-mache. The most important is to get a frame for the mask. I consider the back of head, the neck and the torn chick as general parts. First cover the plasticine head with wet newspaper sheets, then immediately cover it with at least one layer of newspaper and PVA glue. Otherwise everything will dry and fall off. Make pauses between layers and let newspaper sheets dry completely. Add some gauze for hardness. After 3 times I got what I wanted. Then cut papier-mache in half accurately, remove from the head, sew them together, fix with a scotch tape and gauze with newspaper and put away again.

  Now the frame needs a detailed plastic face. I’ve complicated everything, right? First cover the head with silicon in one layer, then make a mixture of Mold Max 30 silicone and Thi-Vex silicone thickener, cover the face, ears and the turned mouth with this mixture. When silicone dried, pour a gauze into a gyp solution, put on silicone mask and after a while take everything off. When gauze dried, mould a plastic mask.

  Take a hot glue and connect a plastic part with papier-mache cover, then sew them together in boards, making holes with a hot needle. Hide junctions with gauze and PVA glue. So we get a flexible and light papier-mache base with detailed plastic elements. Making everything of papier-mache wouldn’t be rational.

  There was some paint in latex, so I got such a color. Then I painted gums schematically and primed the mask inside with a black priming “Sonet”. The head is almost finished.

  At the beginning processing the dummy with a fabric reminds me creating a costumed character. You must make a monster look plump. A foam rubber stitches perfectly and fixes with “Crystal-moment” glue or with a hot glue. For legs I used a big piece of velvet cause it’s easy to stick a foam rubber on it. I left arms without foam rubber cause the costume goes down on hands with it. Or you can stick a foam rubber on arms but wear smth under the costume. Be careful with chest and back. I love overdoing, so my Grunt got sexy forms. Be patient.

Outline wounds and buckles with gaps and folds on material. There must be a lot of fit tests! When you are satisfied, you’ll have to cover the costume with two or three layers of latex. Now I reveal a secret of economy that you’ll thank me for: dilute latex with PVA glue (50×50 or even 40×60). So you will save an expensive material more than 2 times. Moreover, your workpiece will be more solid and stronger, despite it will lose its flexibility. But it’s not so important in this tutorial.

  Latex can be dried by hair dryer or even building dryer but be careful. After drying each layer remember to process its surface with talc.

Now it is time to think how to put on a costume. There were not so many variants: a regular zipper on the back or a concealed zipper across the body. I’ve chosen the second variant. Mark a line on the body and cut it in half. Try it on. Don’t repeat my mistake and cut your costume a little before sewing a zipper, otherwise the costume will be longer. And buy regular two-way plastic zipper long enough. The main thing is to get in the costume. For safety I glued the zipper inside with latex.

Continue covering costume with latex for getting a necessary stability. For texture, stability and hiding junctions I added a gauze. The process reminds me papier-mache – covering with gauze, PVA glue and latex.

  Frankly speaking, I don’t remember how many layers I made. I was working on areas so some of them had more and less layers. In general I expended four or five liters of latex and PVA mixture, but may have even been more.

An attacking paw is made separately but it was better to make it together with the body. The paw is made the same way as the body. Except claws, they are made of PVC covered with cotton, latex and PVA. On top there is newspaper, paint and latex for fixation.

Then connect the head with the body. It was a dull process for me cause I had to try it on many times. The head was twisting all the time… Well, it was horrible and I don’t want to remember it.

The seams from the head, the paw and the wound on a shoulder were fixed on with a hot glue and latex. Hide junctions with latex.

The main principle is that everything can be hidden with latex. It’s very comfortable.

Grunt’s shins are thinner than everything else because their skin is sliced to the muscular tissue. So we need plasticine, latex, penolon for a bone and old stockings, but not capron.

  First make a scotch tape model of the leg. Cut the model in half, put on board and outline. It will be borders of the future blotch. It’s possible to make it bigger. Put plasticine along the marking. Make the second leg the same way. If you want, you can change a pattern of plasticine.

  Cover plasticine with a soap foam to make easier separating latex and wait when it dries. Apply latex with a foam rubber sponge using the same way of stamping. Then I used one more trick – I added some acrylic paints into latex and PVA mixture to color the costume inside. The color will be darker than it was in a can. It’s clearly distinguishable on photo.

  When the first layer of latex will dry apply talc with a broad brush, then cover it with latex again. So make eight or ten layers.

  So I got such a piece of flesh. Cover it with talc abundantly, carefully take off from plasticine like sweeping talc under latex. Pay attention to edges, don’t allow them to stick. Don’t spare talc. Make the second leg the same way. Try on the patches for sure! If they fit tightly, add more latex.

Coming back to the scotch tape legs model. Put stockings on it. I had only a parody of stockings, in fact it was just a suflex covering for boots, and they were short, moreover. The fabric is necessary for fixing stockings with suspenders. It’s possible to avoid but the blotches will droop or you’ll have to fix it with a glue.

Pin the blotches to stockings, hiding a seam with pins. Latex stockings must be a little large for you despite they even stretch. PVA reduces their flexibility, or don’t mix latex with PVA and they will fit better.

When everything is fixed, cover the fabric, seam and pins with latex. When this layer dries, take off the pins. You can use pliers to make it easier. Now everything is pooled together. But cover two or three layers of latex for safety.

In one leg sticks out a bone. I made it of penolon, fixed it with a hot glue and hid seams with latex. Cover the bone with latex to protect of peeling.

Finished! Now only coloration is left.

When you feel comfortable wearing costume, nothing twists or smth, it’s time to color it.

It wasn’t me who colored Brute and Grunt. The master of aerography is Naga Zmeyuka, so I won’t even comment. Anyway, it took much time and a lot of paints. I was engaging only fine tuning like blood spots, seams, shadows, etc.

One more detail: bandages that twist around right hand, panties and feet must seem to be old. I bought several packings of elastic roller. Then made a mixture of teabags, coffee and cocoa, boiled it and soaked bandages in it. Later I rinsed it out in cold water with some drops of acrylic paints and hanged them for drying. I cut quite shabby bandages on edges for a necessary width and sewed them on the costume. The black glove on the right hand is better to be colored and covered with latex. For feet I bought old boots in a market and cut one of them.

  Also I bought a rope in a building store and colored it a little. It ideally settled in specially made furrows. It was difficult only to hide the zipper on body. It was functioning worse cause I mucked it with hot glue.

  A small final touch is hair on the head. Yes, there is some. I used a regular grey felt and fixed it with latex. Some talc will make them look older.

I think this is it. I hope nothing is missed, and you’ll like this tutorial. Thanks for your attention.

The author is Aris