The King Kong "Spider Pit" Missing Creature. Part 2

Hi, and welcome!

Here's a continuation of the build up of the spider pit octopus monster:

Here you can see the webbing that I began to create (in my earlier post) for the mouth.
I also decided to add two eye stalks anstead of having the eyes mounted directly onto the body.

Here (to tidy up the bottom of the puppet) I used dental dam (I've heard it mentioned so many times ... I had to try it), and then added the lumps and bumps by dipping a toothpick into latex and tapping it on the desired spots.

I did the same to tidy things up between the tentacles.

Note the different texture for the skin on the body. I used 8mm balls to create this texture by pressing them into clay and then applying latex in several coats to create a skin cast.

I built up the eye stalks with wire, then wrapped them in yarn, followed by a coating of latex.
The eyes are red BB balls.
I used the end of heated wire to make tiny holes in the "eyes" (so they can be moved by inserting a pointed object into them), then just painting "pupils" on them.
I used cotton wool soaked in latex to make the eye lids (I waited for the latex to half set before trying to add details with a sculpting tool).

Eventually it was ready to paint, so I mixed acrylic paints and latex together and painted a dark base coat (I used part of a sponge to paint it, because latex spoils brushes pretty quick), then added a green-ish coat, followed by blue highlights.

The finished stop motion spider pit puppet.

If you read this, I hope it was of some use to you.

Go build a monster and have fun!



Next build up...


A spider, for the pit!

Stop Motion Plesiosaurus puppet.

I decided to rescue this stop motion plesiosaur puppet, so bought it and now have it at home.

It is in need of quite a bit of TLC, but I will give it a go and hopefully animate it in the near future.

Here's a few pictures of the puppet, and the areas that need to be repaired...

In the UK after the long journey from Los Angeles.

It's missing an eye. I'll replace both of them.



Someone's had a go at making repairs in the past, but they've not held up well at all.

A failed repair attempt from the past.

The foam rubber is still soft ... Just a shame it's cracking.

I'm hoping that liquid latex will do the job, but have never tried using it with foam latex.

I have some cotton wool and latex filling a couple of the splits at the moment.

I will let you know how it goes!

The King Kong "Spider Pit" Missing Creature

Hi again.

This time I decided to finish a creature that i'd started around 2 years ago .... The OCTOPUS CREATURE, from the infamous Kong '33, missing "spider pit."
What's great about creating this monster, is... No one (alive) has ever seen more than the odd tentacle in a production drawing, so you can let your imagination run wild!

Here's the wire armature that I built a few years back.

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A few weeks back, I found the armature in a box, and decided to do something with it. Here is how it looked (with the remains of the work I originally started still attached):

I decided to leave the original work attached to the armature and just work around/over it, and set to

work by wrapping each tentacle in wool:

Then I made a simple skin texture mold by pressing the "grip bumps" on some plier handles, into an oil based clay (simple, yet effective).

I then smeared three thin coats of latex over the texture mold (letting each layer dry before applying the next):

I also sculpted a few simple veins into the clay and they turned out ok.

NOTE: Always dust (with corn starch, talc or baking flour) the skin pieces before pulling them from the mold, becuse once latex touches latex it sticks and will ruin your casting.

Next, I dabbed latex onto the cotton tentacle and the underside of the latex skin, then stretched the molded skin around the tentacle until it held.

Starting to look like something now!

Now it was time to add the striking mouth at the rear; The claws are made from friendly plastic.

I started to form the mouth-claws with wool again (this method works quite well, it is very long winded, but worth it in the end!

Now it was time to add the webbing that will form the outer part of the mouth, so, again, it was a clay mold that was created.

I made the webbing a little thicker than the skin. I repeated this four times, but it would be a one shot deal if you made one big mold (I ran out of clay).

More soon!

Stop Motion King Kong.

Hi, and thanks for dropping by.

This is a quick look at the creation of a stop motion King Kong puppet, that I built a few years back:

First off, you need an armature; Either a ball and socket or wire armature will do, but be aware that both have advantages and disadvantages (I will explain this later).

For Kong, I decided to purchase an b/s armature (Created by Tom Brierton).

First off, I sculpted a face over the replica of Kong's skull.

Here's the sculpt placed onto the armature (I wouldn't end up using this sculpt').

Next job was to pad the armature with sponge rubber and then shape it all into a basic muscle structure (very crude because it was going to be covered with faux fur). In this picture, Kong has another head that I sculpted, and again I scrapped it. 

Next up, it was time to prep' the skull by adding wires for the lips and eye-brows, then giving the mouth a few touches.

More to follow.....