Seeking advice or tips on sculpting necks and neck plugs?

[Grimjohn]

Okay, I need to "virtually" sit at the feet of the master sculptors and casters in this community and ask for some words of advice on a couple of projects I have undertaken.

Scenario #1:

I am trying my hand at reducing 12" heads with Hydrospan 400.

My first attempt was with a Hugh Laurie as Dr. Greg House 12" head and the Hydrospan has now completely shrunk leaving me with a near perfect Mego-sized (it is a millimeter or two smaller than the roto-cast Fonzie head I use for benchmarking size) House head but now I have to resolve the neck plug issue.

I am presuming that I first need to make a mold of the shrunken head, cast it in resin and then add a neck plug made out of Sculptey then make a final mold. (Unless there is a shortcut I can use to save my OOMMOO???? *Crossing my fingers that there might be*)

The problem I am running into is that I suck at making the neck plug, I have spent the last three weeks trying to sculpt one using the neck plugs from any of my assorted roto-cast and resin cast heads as models/guides. And, as I said, I seriously suck at this aspect of sculpting. They are either too thin and flimsy or they are way too thick and bulky.

So, is there a quicker/easier/faster way of getting a "professional-looking" neck plugs?


Scenario #2:

I have a Sideshow 12" Snake-Eyes head that has no neck at all.

I figured I would make a mold and Hydrospan 400 it down like I did the House head, unfortunately the lack of a neck created too much of an undercut to allow the ice cold Hydrospan 400 to properly fill in all of the mold before it started to cure. I tried trimming out some of the silicone to reduce the undercut but it was too much.

After six attempts of trimming away silicone and recasting the Hydrospan 400 I gave up and decided that I will need to sculpt a neck (preferably a neck with neck plug to save me a mold/recast process later).

The problem I am having here is that while sculpting the neck is pretty simple, it is getting the neck plug (see above for how badly I suck at neck plugs) onto the neck without smooshing and ruining the neck sculpt itself. I have tried baking/hardening the neck first and then sculpting one of my crappy neck plugs onto the hardened neck but I am having issues getting the fresh Sculptey to properly adhere to the hardened Sculptey.

So, is my process wrong? Should I be sculpting the neck and neck plug as one unit?

Or, should I simply give up and commission a pro to do my sculpting and casting?

Thank you, in advance, for those that take the time to read my two situations to offer any wisdom or guidance...or services

[sprytel]

Admittedly... I've never sculpted a neck plug, so maybe this is totally off base.

But for a resin head, the neck plug itself almost always needs to be trimmed to fit. Some head sculptors give it the look of a vintage Mego neck plug... but that doesn't have much practical value, because resin doesn't give like rotocast vinyl. So really all it needs to be is a long straight cylinder. If that is still a challenge, you could probably use a wooden dowel or the like to help sculpt it up.

Now here is a fun little trick I have used before...

Sometimes when you Dremel down a resin neck plug, you end up being overzealous and take too much. If you do that, the head sits in loose and can fall out. I have used masking tape to snug it up in the past. But in this case, I Dremeled it down even a bit more, then chopped off the neck plug from a beater head in the parts bucket. A little Crazy Glue between the resin post and the vinyl plug and... voila. Fit like a dream.

So if you really can't get a plug that you are happy with, there is always that as a back pocket "nuclear" option.

[dr_cyclops]

I use Kabob sticks purchased at the grocery store.
I attach the head using Magic Sculpt, a two part epoxy compound. Once the neck is dry and built up a little longer than I want it, I cut the head off the stick.
Using sandpaper on a flat surface, holding the head at correct angle, sand bottom of neck to desired position on body.
With a sharp tool or rotary tool, make shallow holes in bottom of neck where plug will attach. Fill holes with Magic Sculpt up to a thin layer across the bottom of neck.
(at this time it's a good idea to sculpt the end-plug. make it longer than you would think in it's taper. Even good length plugs disappear in the molding/casting process.)
Lightly spray water onto the torso neck hole of a doll. Press neck onto correct position of neck hole. Using impression as guide, sculpt up the neck post, again, a little longer than desired. Allow to dry.
Sand again to desired length. Drill holes in bottom of dry neck post. Flatten the top of the dry plug the same as the neck and post. Drill small holes where it will attach to the post.
Fill holes on both 'post' and 'plug' with Magic Sculpt and press together. Allow to dry.

[Grimjohn]

Thanks guys!

Sprytel, I am going to use your suggestion on the House head.

Dr. Cyclops, I am going to use your suggestion on the Snake-Eyes head.

Thanks again for the tips, very much appreciated!!!

[Capt_Kirk]

I cut a plug off a mego neck and glued a wooden dowl rod on the top of it. I then cast several copies. all I have to do is glue it onto whatever head I shrunk and then make a cast of it.

[Grimjohn]

Ooooh, that's a good idea too!!!