Baby Elephant Costume for Jumanji by Sculpture Studios

Well, that was dramatic. Welcome to Sculpture Studios. We're creating a new version of a really old project that Aiden worked on years ago, where a baby elephant costume was made. There's a video to this already on our channel. Trust me, there's a really hilarious clip of Aiden scaring the absolute bejesus out of the client as they walk in. I've left a link at the bottom. Forget the link. Forget the link. I'll find it. Hold on a sec. Right, right. Okay. There it is. So Aiden's already inside the costume and this is the first time the clients have been down to see it and they think Aiden's in the bathroom or something. There we go. Anyway, a new client from Japan saw the old video on our channel and wanted something similar created for their event. The original was made for a stage show and this new one's for an event to mark the release of the Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle movie in Japan. The original was needed really quickly to be seen from a distance on the stage, so it was simply carved from a foam with a latex finish. This elephant needs to be more detailed as it's going to be seen from up close. So what we're going to do is create a master pattern from polystyrene and clay, create a mould and then lay up a cast in a self-skinning foam. We've cut the peripheral shape of the elephant from front and side on and hot wires are used to block the initial form before we work down to nail and wire brushes. We carve the shape slightly smaller than we intend it to be by about half an inch all round as we'll be adding clay over the top to create the skin-like texture. Being physically the smallest person in the studio, Jess is going to be our model for this job as we need a size to base this on. The costume also needs to be tested ideally here in the workshop before it's sent to Japan, so we've notified the client at the other end that the costume needs to fit someone of around five foot five inches tall and around Jess's sort of build. So what's happening today and what's happening tomorrow Aidan? Today we're blocking out the elephant, the baby elephant, give it some structure and a little bit of detailing clay and tomorrow we have the client coming down to have a look at it and do a video conference back in Japan I believe. Trying to get this up to the best we can so they've got something good to look at. It's currently missing the ears but these are being modelled up separately over here. They're going to be video conferencing their client in Japan to see what everyone thinks and there's Jess with a hand up an elephant's bottom. Aidan's now going over with a spray on sealant and this will create a waterproof barrier between the clay and resin that's going on top. The water in the clay would usually prevent the resin from curing properly so this ensures the moisture stays away from the resin and the glass fibre completely. In the same way that we'd normally create a barrier between the polystyrene and the resin using our sticky back tin foil, this method is appropriate for water-based clay. We go on with a gel coat of resin once a few layers of the sealant has been applied and this will create a nice smooth internal surface to the mould that's then backed up with glass fibre. To distract you from the fact we haven't got any clips of the mould being taken apart and the bulk of the pattern removed, I'm going to distract you with this clip of an elephant getting stuck in some tyres. Look at him! Oh yeah, that's great. Once the majority of the poly's been taken out we need to make sure that all of the clay is removed as well. Normally this would be a lot simpler to extract than you can see here but with something as intricate and as detail heavy as this elephant's wrinkly skin, we need to manually take this out by hand and then we proceed to use a jet wash to remove the rest of the clay residue. The foam we're using on this job to lay up on the inside of the mould to create the cast is a two-part mix. This needs to be carefully weighed out in measured quantities and can be applied on using a brush. We're building this up in several layers, allowing the foam to expand and set once it's on the job before going on with another layer on top. We're adding ribs of cane-like material so the elephant's body helps retain its shape much like an actual skeleton or a rib cage would do. We worked out that acrylics seem to be the best paints to use as they adhered properly to the foam so Aidan and Jess are going over with their brushes to work on the detail. Soft little boots have also been installed inside the feet so the actor can stand in something comfortable or as comfortable as possible with a block in both front legs for the hands. Other details like the Jumanji logo and eyelashes are added as well and the eyes are given a sparkle to make it seem a little more alive. With everything now complete it's time to test the costume properly so here's a quick rundown of how the actor is to get in and out. The costume takes a bit of getting used to to work out how to manoeuvre comfortably but it really comes to life with someone inside that's used to the movement. We've had a crate made up so this can be flown out to Japan and once it got there it had a right adventure. We have no idea what these subtitles on the clip saying so I really hope it's nothing bad but the elephant looks like it had a whale of a time. We should have sent Jess out there inside the costume and she would have had a holiday. Jess come and have a look at what you missed out on. You could have been touring around with a Japanese Dwayne Johnson. Man they love their Jumanji. Please feel free to leave any comments below as they're always appreciated and hit the subscribe button for our latest videos. You can like Sculpture Studios on Facebook and follow at Aidan Hines on Twitter and for more of our work visit SculptureStudios.co.uk. Thank you very much for watching.