Chris Howes: Maximus project!

[jinroh75]

chris, quick question - is there any chance i can get the armor parts in a standard resin? i know you're trying to get it casted in a flexible material but my luck with rubbery stuff is not good. i'd rather have a rock hard resin part that i know would last than a rubbery part that might deteriorate or have lint stuck to it constantly

i have some of the hero head hats and they're flexible. it breaks down pretty easily, paint wont stick and gets lint all the time. he'll be on display and not played with so i don't care if it's rubbery or not. just worried about damage is all

 

[C.Howes_Sculptor]

chris, quick question - is there any chance i can get the armor parts in a standard resin? i know you're trying to get it casted in a flexible material but my luck with rubbery stuff is not good. i'd rather have a rock hard resin part that i know would last than a rubbery part that might deteriorate or have lint stuck to it constantly

i have some of the hero head hats and they're flexible. it breaks down pretty easily, paint wont stick and gets lint all the time. he'll be on display and not played with so i don't care if it's rubbery or not. just worried about damage is all

Sure, if you like, but this material isn't the typical rubber like material you're thinking of. I'm awaiting a sample so I can experiment with it and I'll report back, but my impression of the stuff is that it's VERY tough and not terribly soft and flexible. It's referred to as "semi-rigid" rather than flexible for a reason. It's like a hard resin that will flex a bit rather than snap and be brittle.

But, I'd be glad to cast it in standard resin if that's what you want.

 

[C.Howes_Sculptor]

And just for fun...

Check this out: It's the greatest Maximus figure éver!!!!!

(sorry, got bored)

What the?!?!?

Where'd you find that?

 

[Lord Vicious]

What the?!?!?

Where'd you find that?

Some model kit store is selling them on Ebay:
https://shop.ebay.com/merchant/hobbymodel_group

They also have a wonderful Leonidas and William Wallace

 

[lilnoosh1]

And just for fun...

Check this out: It's the greatest Maximus figure éver!!!!!

that figure looks so cool. with a face like that i think they are gonna have Chris on his toes trying to compete with them

 

[C.Howes_Sculptor]

that figure looks so cool. with a face like that i think they are gonna have Chris on his toes trying to compete with them

Yes, I'm working on my "Maximus eats sour lemon drop" head right now!!!!

You gotta love that!

 

[lilnoosh1]

Gladiator was on tv last, in Australia that is, gotta admit Commodus has some pretty intricate armor

 

[eighthsamurai]

got my maximus ebay head today. it's not brilliant, but it'll do. it'll definitely replaced by chris' screaming head, or be sent off for a repaint. from certain angles its good, from others not so. and the neck post is flipping horrible!! it's glued to a hot toys type neck adaptor really haphazardly, the adaptor itself is cheap and a different colour. not good. but it'll do. will post pics soonish.

ps. chris, i can't remember how maximus' armour was put on. but with elvis (seb) offering his leather outfit and tunic, did the armour in the movie fit over this? cheers

 

[lilnoosh1]

can u take some fotos of the sculpt u got, mine still in the mail

 

[C.Howes_Sculptor]

got my maximus ebay head today. it's not brilliant, but it'll do. it'll definitely replaced by chris' screaming head, or be sent off for a repaint. from certain angles its good, from others not so. and the neck post is flipping horrible!! it's glued to a hot toys type neck adaptor really haphazardly, the adaptor itself is cheap and a different colour. not good. but it'll do. will post pics soonish.

ps. chris, i can't remember how maximus' armour was put on. but with elvis (seb) offering his leather outfit and tunic, did the armour in the movie fit over this? cheers

It appears this final armor (final scene, that is) goes over blue slave tunic only. As i mentioned, it looks like I've got some tunics coming, so as soon as those are done I'll show what it looks like.

I'm trying to have new WIP photos soon. Trying to get the no fun commercial jobs out of the way so I can get rocking on all the fun stuff!

 

[eighthsamurai]

it all sounds fantastic chris - who'd have thought i'd have 2 (count em) 2 excellent gladiator figures coming soon. for the leather strap things below the waist (i'm a master of terminology) i'm hoping seb can maybe offer just the bottom half of his full leather set. that would take care of that part of the project.

illnoosh, sorry for the delay. sorry, my pics are always lame - terrible camera and worse photographer:

 

[lilnoosh1]

thanx for those pics mate it does give me a little bit of and idea, dont worry i dont even own a camera, each time i have money for one i end up spending it on something else.

but as i assumed the head will serve its purpose well, even if its not the greatest job, atleast it has good resemblance...i think?

 

[eighthsamurai]

yeah, it's not as bad as i originally thought. in some lights and angles its not bad at all. i think it could do with a decent repaint. and dude - i'm the same with the camera. need to get one. or at least lessons on how to focus. but its a very old 3.2 mp exilim with no zoom or focus feature, so it's about time it changed. my ganny's mobile phone has a better camera on it!

 

[C.Howes_Sculptor]

yeah, it's not as bad as i originally thought. in some lights and angles its not bad at all. i think it could do with a decent repaint. and dude - i'm the same with the camera. need to get one. or at least lessons on how to focus. but its a very old 3.2 mp exilim with no zoom or focus feature, so it's about time it changed. my ganny's mobile phone has a better camera on it!

Looks like a basic likeness is there from what I've seen... But ours will be better!

 

[lilnoosh1]

Ye the basic likleness is there, which is good that's what we should be happy with.
When i got it this afternoon i kinda had the same reaction when i got my joker. Its the gladiator, yes...its the joker, yes... but Russell or Heath, not quite.

With that aside, is probably the best stern sculpt that is available to us. I'm guessing someone in Singapore caught wind of the possibility of a custom Gladiator coming up, so a recast and paint was done, i even reckon the neck joint is a recast!.

I'm no pro, paint job looks air brushed some of the finer details are done with a brush. Because of the way the top eye lids come down, mine sculpt looks cross eyed

When you look really close to mine i can make out these tiny little holes, probably caused by air when it was cast, if it is a recast! At the back of mine you don't even need to go close up you can see the holes no worries.

All that aside I am satisfied with it, will make a do well in this custom project, and it has an adams apple which is good

 

[C.Howes_Sculptor]

Ye the basic likleness is there, which is good that's what we should be happy with.
When i got it this afternoon i kinda had the same reaction when i got my joker. Its the gladiator, yes...its the joker, yes... but Russell or Heath, not quite.

With that aside, is probably the best stern sculpt that is available to us. I'm guessing someone in Singapore caught wind of the possibility of a custom Gladiator coming up, so a recast and paint was done, i even reckon the neck joint is a recast!.

I'm no pro, paint job looks air brushed some of the finer details are done with a brush. Because of the way the top eye lids come down, mine sculpt looks cross eyed

When you look really close to mine i can make out these tiny little holes, probably caused by air when it was cast, if it is a recast! At the back of mine you don't even need to go close up you can see the holes no worries.

All that aside I am satisfied with it, will make a do well in this custom project, and it has an adams apple which is good

The quality of your cast looks pretty crappy, I'm sorry to say. Bad technique. Same with the painting. Repaint that guy fast!

Well, like I said, our new head will be superior. I NEVER let a casting like that go out. It's not that tough to cast a bubble free casting. Just dust the mold with a light layer of talcum powder and use a good quality fresh resin.....

 

[Lord Vicious]

Hmm, I should be getting mine as well soon I guess. From what I'm seeing, I'm not too happy about the quality though

 

[lilnoosh1]

The quality of your cast looks pretty crappy, I'm sorry to say. Bad technique. Same with the painting. Repaint that guy fast!

Well, like I said, our new head will be superior. I NEVER let a casting like that go out. It's not that tough to cast a bubble free casting. Just dust the mold with a light layer of talcum powder and use a good quality fresh resin.....

Chris by all means your critic/critique is welcomed. It does look like a dodgy cast and I'm glad (with your sculpting abilities/powers) that you agree.

I would repaint if i could paint, but i don't wanna complain about it too much coz that will leave me disappointed. You get what you pay for $US38.50 head & painted i cant complain. Coz one of Chris heads usually go for $US35 and painting say $US30 so its gonna be much more superior. And to top it off we did buy it off someone who couldn't show us a resume of sculpts and painting like Chris can

 

[Lord Vicious]

Oh well, we could always use that headsculpt to make Maximus' ugly brother

 

[lilnoosh1]

I was thinking of Ben Wade Yuma...but obviously a better sculpt could be done for that...or even Jack Aubrey, when he forgot to shave.