This year for Halloween I decided to make my own papier mache prop inspired by the classic Ridley Scott movie, Alien.
I'm sure everyone is familiar with this iconic scene.
Still creeps me out today as it did watching it as a kid.
This project was one of those rare occasions in which I enjoyed the artistic process from start to finish.
I constructed the frame of the chestburster with cardboard from a Cheerios cereal box.
The tools I used to construct this cardboard frame were:
an Xacto Knife
a cutting board with measurements
and some masking tape
It's always good to have a picture to refer to when constructing this little bad boy.
Then I papier mache the exterior giving the general mold of the creature using Claycrete.
All you do is add water! Super simple and great quality.
This is still a really messy process, so make sure you have some disposable surface to cover your table when working with this stuff! It took about a day for it to harden and dry completely. It'll probably take longer if the weather is humid, try to keep it in a dry warm place.
I used AMACO Sculptamold after the Claycrete paper mache finished drying to give it a smoother finish.
The cool thing about Sculptamold is that once it dries and hardens you could actually sand it down. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to sand down for a smooth surface since I only thought of making my costume three days before Halloween.
Nathalie, my wonderful costume designing girlfriend, helped me with the shirt. She's very very good with details, particularly on the logo patch and blood.
I whipped out my Iwata Eclipse air brush to give the creature it's first coat of paint.
The airbrush is very efficient in getting into all the nooks and crannies than with your typical paint brush. I mixed some fluid acrylics that were designed for airbrushes to get a fleshy color. I mixed white, red, yellow, and a drop of blue. It didn't have to be perfect, since the finishing layers were going to be with regular paint brushes and heavy body acrylic paint.
This is how it looked after mixing and painting with a paint brush.
I painted the teeth on a separate piece of cardboard and later installed it from the inside of the cardboard frame.
Mixing all different kinds of flesh colors helps this papier mache chestburster come to life. Looks absolutely gross!
But something is missing...
Oh yeah!
Blood. Lots and lots of blood.
This is how it looked like when assembled. It took a lot of duct tape, and a piece of string to keep that papier mache prop supported on my chest.
It was a hit at the Halloween parade, particularly with African American and Hispanic women... there is something about large phallic symbols that just get 'em going, they're so weird...
I'm sure everyone is familiar with this iconic scene.
Still creeps me out today as it did watching it as a kid.
This project was one of those rare occasions in which I enjoyed the artistic process from start to finish.
I constructed the frame of the chestburster with cardboard from a Cheerios cereal box.
The tools I used to construct this cardboard frame were:
an Xacto Knife
a cutting board with measurements
and some masking tape
It's always good to have a picture to refer to when constructing this little bad boy.
Then I papier mache the exterior giving the general mold of the creature using Claycrete.
All you do is add water! Super simple and great quality.
This is still a really messy process, so make sure you have some disposable surface to cover your table when working with this stuff! It took about a day for it to harden and dry completely. It'll probably take longer if the weather is humid, try to keep it in a dry warm place.
I used AMACO Sculptamold after the Claycrete paper mache finished drying to give it a smoother finish.
The cool thing about Sculptamold is that once it dries and hardens you could actually sand it down. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to sand down for a smooth surface since I only thought of making my costume three days before Halloween.
 |
| Damn it Giger, stop making things that looks like a penis! |
Nathalie, my wonderful costume designing girlfriend, helped me with the shirt. She's very very good with details, particularly on the logo patch and blood.
I whipped out my Iwata Eclipse air brush to give the creature it's first coat of paint.
The airbrush is very efficient in getting into all the nooks and crannies than with your typical paint brush. I mixed some fluid acrylics that were designed for airbrushes to get a fleshy color. I mixed white, red, yellow, and a drop of blue. It didn't have to be perfect, since the finishing layers were going to be with regular paint brushes and heavy body acrylic paint.
 |
| Looks like a freshly baked loaf of bread. |
I painted the teeth on a separate piece of cardboard and later installed it from the inside of the cardboard frame.
 |
| I forget the last time I've been to the dentist. |
But something is missing...
 |
| I feel like I'm missing something... |
Blood. Lots and lots of blood.
This is how it looked like when assembled. It took a lot of duct tape, and a piece of string to keep that papier mache prop supported on my chest.
 |
| MY RIBS!! |
It was a hit at the Halloween parade, particularly with African American and Hispanic women... there is something about large phallic symbols that just get 'em going, they're so weird...
