The first is my zombie head! Keep in mind this is my very first time using chicken wire. Tools I used was a wire cutter and needle nose pliers. I took the chicken wire and made the formation of a head, using the pliers to bend the ends to close it. Covered it in newspaper, use newspaper and some tape and wrap it like a present. Take your papier mache and go to town. Note: I have done these in all separate steps. One day I made the zombie body (you will see below), another day I started my first layers of the papier mache, and just over the weekend I built the eyes and nose. How I built the eyes and nose, was I took the cover of the phone book bent it into the shape of a circle and taped the end, then taped (masking tape) it to the face, same thing for the nose. Then papier mache and build up the sides of the eyes and nose. That's where I left off as you can see below. This weekend I will make a mouth and build from there until dry, at that point I will paint his face.
This is the zombie torso and arms. I created with chicken wire. Really easy. I'm on the fence right now about doing papier mache over his body or just leaving it be and covering it with his clothes. Depending on what it looks like I don't think I'll have to take that extra step with the papier mache. I'll keep you posted...
Here are some of the mannequin heads we found on craigslist. In the meantime I've placed some cheap fun wigs on her. Still haven't decided exactly what I want to do to her just yet. She eventually will be a zombie but not sure if I want to make it more permanent or use face paint wherein it could be washed off when I'm done and can do something different to her in the upcoming years.
Below is the papier mache skull. I used a plastic skull for the base and wrapped it up in tin foil. The tin foil will keep the papier mache from sticking to my mold. I have done about 5 layers here, I will do a few more to be complete. I will then take an x-acto knife/razor blade and cut the skull in half to remove my mold. Hot glue the skull back together and papier mache it just several more layers until complete. I will then paint it and seal it. Pictures will follow when completed.
Last but not least the cheesecloth! Right now it's folded up. I explained my dying process in my previous blog. I will wait until the 6 storage containers are out of the garage and everything is set up outside to be displayed before I cut/shred it up. I think I'm going to use some on my zombie too.
Hope your all having a ghoulish week!
