The first step, for me, is to create a reference board, with as much info as I can gather. Sometimes, as in the case of Wow Dog, a drawing created by another illustrator, the only info available is a small sketch. But with a little creativity that can be enough....
The tools I use for shaping the foam, are a combination of rasps, chisels and generous amounts of sand paper. The material is a 10lb polyurethane foam similar to Balsa Foam.
I start by making patterns for the different body parts. For shapes that need to be symmetrical I use Illustrator, for others I usually sketch a general shape directly on the foam(the foot pattern was drawn in Illustrator, the tail was sketched out by hand). I'll use the front foot as an example. I start by printing out the pattern and glueing it to the top of a block of foam cut to roughly the size of my foot. I then rough cut out the pattern on a band saw and sand the block to shape with a disc sander.(middle shape) I can then start to shape the foot to its final form with the hand a rasp. All of the pieces on the cat and dog were created mostly by hand, with the exception of the body which is turned on a lathe.
For the legs I used 3/16" clear acrylic rod, which I heat up with a heat gun, and bend over a form created out of MDF.
Here are the raw pieces after forming and a cat staring to take shape....
Next up I will show you how I skin the foam with resin.........
Its really not that hard but can be time consuming depending on the complexity of the part. The main advantage to this technique versus. clay modeling is the elimination of the need to cast the part to get your final piece, the part is ready for paint. While not indestructible, these pieces are light, strong and can have material added directly to the surface.
Anyways heres the latest about halfway there, just have to make a collar. As for the tutorial, I have pretty much shown my whole process, with the exception of the large amounts of sanding I will have to do. So I will be updating with progress shots only unless someone has a specific question and if you do feel free to post or email me and I will answer. So on with the show, let me know what you think......
