Character 3 -
Hair Experimentation
I tried to section a strip of hair in a disjointed line to enocurage corners. Here I used too much hair so it wasn't sharp enough.
Using asmaller section I tried again and it did improve when trying to create direction.
I continued this plait but ofund that it was unavoidable that the amount hair would increase as you need to add hair to continue. From this, I'm unconfident that this will be the right way to go for this character.
Alternatively, I could use a bald cap on this model and sculpt corn rowed hair and apply this as flat pieces on top. This way I will also have the option to create space to insert mechanical prosthetics.
Alternative Method
I wanted to see if I could use fine corn rows to create a pattern to replicate that of a circuit board. To do so I will use small sections of hair and pre section the hair to ensure I can achieve a suitable pattern.
IDEA 1
IDEA 2
Ideally I would like to use the models own hair for this as I am already planning on making a whig for my other female character. I need to find a way of being able to create 'bald' areas on my models head to allow me to apply flat pieces. Here is one method:
This method, demonstrated by Stuart Bray, used gafquat to smooth down a section of the models hair, to enable him to apply a prosthetic piece on top, giving the impression of a bald patch.
I could possibly ue this method by taaking a section of hair, which will be kept separate from the styled hair. I wil then use gafquat to harden and flattent he hair to the skin and down my midels neck. I will then apply an appropriate adhesive to stick the hair down. This will then need to be colour corrected to match her skin in preparation to apply a flat piece on top.
Bray, S. (2009)
By cornrowing the hair sections to one side, I figured that i may be able to use this flat space to apply a prosthetic piece on top of the hair, avoiding the use of a partial bald cap.
To test this properly, I need ot see if I can apply a prosthetic successfully on top of the hair.
Alternatively, I will use a partial bald cap, which will allow me to keep just the hair on the top of the head for styling which will then be accompanied by sculpted cornrows on top of the bald cap.
Alternative Method
Circumference - 56 cm
Tip of ear to tip of ear - 30cm
nape - 10cm
Hairline to nape - 32cm
back of ear to ear - 20cm
back temple to temple -30cm
bald edge to ear tip - 9cm
To sculpt the corn rows I laid out three saussage shapes and gradually took away sreas to form a plait pattern. Once the basic forms were there, I began to put in detail and added small sections of hair in between each corn row where hair would have been pulled from.
This was a challenging task as it was hard to find information or references of how to sculpt hair.
I looked at Farauts sculpting, however this wasn't very helpful as the hair he sculpted was extremely basic without detail.
Running Appliance:
-
Pro Gel A+B - no deadner
-
Dark brown pigment
-
Black Flocking
TESTING
 |
|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
CORNROWS: 1
CORNROWS: 2
 |
|---|
 |
 |
 |
TEXTURING THE HAIR EXTENSIONS
To texture the hair, I could use two methods to style the straight synthetic hair I'm using.
Method 1 - Weaving hair into a crepe braid on weaving sticks and set the hair in hot water.
Method 2 - use perming rods and paper ends , rolling the hair up into a tight coil.
Direction of roller
Sectioning hair
Wetting papers and rolling
Direction of roller
Burning ends of braids is a technique used on synthetic hair.
Using a flame the end of the hair is melted and whilst still hot, it is squashed and pinched into a neat finish.
TYING OFFBRAIDS: BURNING ENDS
 |
|---|
 |
 |
This test resulted in me needing to make a new bald cap which was both bigger and coloured with a darker foundation. The shape of the bald cap was apporpriate, howver, it does need to be bigger, particularly at the nape of the neck, to allow more room for covering her own hair, as this would ruin the illusion.
I was happy with the size and shape of the cornrows. This test also cinfirmed for me that I prefered the shorter cornrows which i can then extend using hair pieces as they would hang a lot better than silicone would.
I sculpted the corn rows again to cut them down shorter and also so I had a mirrored copy of them for the other side of the head.
LO1
LO2
To extend my silicone corn rows, I textured some synthetic hair and plaited it.
I did this simply by tieing a section of hair together and weaving this on my weaving sticks. This was then boiled for the texture to set. Once I cut away the string, an afro style section of hair released and I tried to relax this before plaiting it.
I used the weaving method above to texture my length of hair. I wefted the length of hair horizontally, weaving thw whole piece between the strings and tied off at the end into a tight secure knot before boiling in water.
My model had no allergic reactions to any of the products I used.
AskMissE (2009)
Musgrove, J. (2003;2013)