SCULPTURE: "Flying Monkey #4"

In 2008, I started a sculpture series inspired by the Flying Monkeys from the Wizard of Oz, but done in a "steampunk" style. It's called the "Flying Monkey Squadron". Recently, I finally saw "Wicked" (I'd never even listened to any songs before the movie released). I was inspired to add a new character to the series. He's based loosely on the tiny "Golden Lion Tamarin". 

 

SCULPTURE: Flying Monkey Upgrade

Nine years ago, I sculpted my little series called the "Flying Monkey Squadron". It was inspired by the flying monkeys of "Wizard of Oz" with a Steampunk/WWI Ace Pilot flavor. This week, I decided to do a makeover and brighten up the color palette. I was again inspired...this time by Fire Fighters and the latest run of super hero movies. Now these guys are a group of Special Ops Rescue Rangers! 

If you want to see step-by-step how I made everything, just click on the LABEL in the right-side column of this blog..."SCULPTURE: Flying Monkey Squadron".

SCULPTURE: "Flying Monkey Squadron" FINISHED

Before sculpting the Mandrill, I sketched a "to size" drawing to figure out the scale of the monkey. Then I roughed up a loose sculpt to get the proportions of my armature right. Later, I removed the head section of the armature, when the scale of things changed during later stages.

I decided that the "racing pose" seemed a bit ordinary for this character, so I sketched something that looked like a stunt biker from an x-games event. It was a little too comical for what I wanted, so I made it feel like he was riding a "jet-ski" jumping a wave.

I finished the hands and baked them first...then started working on the body.

I felt like the arms were a bit too long, so I did a little corrective surgery with my saw and belt sander.

When I got to the head, I made the teeth separately so they would hold detail while I finished the rest of the face and headgear.

The final sculpt with the stages of the paint job. Time for some Super-Glue! (A little Monkey Trivia: technically speaking, a Mandrill is not a baboon, though it is related to them.)

That's it for this series. On to something new!
-W

SCULPTURE: "Flying Monkey Squadron" pt.9

Since I've explained the basic process for this series in other posts, I'll keep things a bit simpler this time. Below are lots of sketches...for some reason, many more were needed to figure out the final shape of the "Aero-Bike".

These are all of the bits of "found objects" and wood pieces I crafted for the machine.

Now I start assembling the parts...I had to patch the landing gear with epoxy putty. As before, I coat everything with glue to give a bit of texture and seal up gaps.

Here's the "Aero-Bike" all put together, then painted with a base coat of brown acrylic.

Now, the final paint job.

Here's my desk in the studio, as I'm making the base for the piece.

I began to add more and more detail to the "swirling clouds". I probably made the base a bit too elaborate this time around...oh well.

I finished off the metal support wire with epoxy to give it a bit more strength than Sculpy would afford. You'll see in the inset image that I added another little "swirl" to support the tailpiece...I was afraid that the added weight of the Mandrill monkey would pull the "Aero-Bike" apart from the base.

All painted, but not glued together yet.

Next time...how I made the Mandrill pilot.
-W

SCULPTURE - "Flying Monkey Squadron" pt.8

NEW! The third member of the "Flying Monkey Squadron" is finally finished...meet my "MANDRILL on an AERO-BIKE"!

It took me a lot longer to get this baby done than I anticipated. But a nice Memorial Day weekend gave me a big chunk of time to play. This will probably be the last in the series for quite a while...I'm ready to move on to other sculpture ideas.

As I have done before, I'll share the process of how I made this over several posts. But for now, Enjoy!

SCULPTURE - "Flying Monkey Squadron" pt.7

Here is the completed sculpture, all put together! Hope you like it.


I'm still working on one more character for the "Flying Monkey Squadron", but it will be a while longer before it's done. It's going a bit slower than I expected. What can I say...life is full.
-W

SCULPTURE - "Flying Monkey Squadron" pt.6

On to the sculpture of the Gorilla. Below is the "core" of the piece...a wooden block with a hole drilled in it to connect it to the support rod. I made a sketch that was approximately the same size as the finished jet-pack and the base, so I could get the proportions right. I then wire-wrapped aluminum foil on to add bulk, and reduce the amount of sculpey clay I would use.


Since I had some leftover "regular" sculpey, I added enough to cover the aluminum foil. I then used "super" sculpey to add the details, building layer on layer, and baking each stage before adding more.


Below are the finished hands and face of the gorilla. I added the leather headgear after baking the details of the face.

It became obvious that my proportions were off for the length of the overhead arm. I added a good bit more clay and modified the pose. I then sculpted the final details of the jacket and added the jet-pack straps.


The image below shows how I designed the jet-pack to hide where the metal support rod goes into the gorilla's back.


When all the gorilla bits were complete, I gave the whole sculpture a coating of brown acrylic.


Next time...the final paint job and a look at the finished "Silverback with a Jet-pack".
-W