Finished

Here is the near complete Spider, is still want to put some finishing touches on the jaws as they need better hair definition but overall I feel that this has been a successful project.

More images on the way...

I mostly paint and hair, mostly.....

A shot of the spider being finally positioned after painting.

Using a thin Nylon Brush Hair and emulsion PVA the hairs were individually positioned on the legs. The Feelers below are the hairiest of the extremities and so were tackled first.

So far all is working well but I'm unhappy with the finish of the legs. The whiteness of the joints seems to prominent being to opaque. I have toned the white down to a more ivory colour making them more pleasing. I had the idea using thickness satin lacqure to build a thickness which will add a semi opaque translucency. I would prefer to strip the paint from the legs but the is no time and they have already been haired. Lesson learnt....

Just The Hair

All the Les have been constructed and painted.















To prevent paint reaching specific area's they were coated in latex which was then easily removed after spraying. The (right) image shows a test for the hairs and spines, all work well but more are required.

Home run

All Your Base (warning huge post)















The Base is near finished, painting completed It is some awaiting minor last minute details
( Plant matter sand/dirt particles) Which can only be added after spider positioning.)

I also used a clear satin lacquer to add area's of moister, something the matt emulsion was lacking. I'm looknig into adding area's of pooled water (possible resin). Image above shows the current level of texture and detail. (I still have the problem with the texture looking butter up close, and somewhat monotone at a distance) Hopefully a spider walking around it will solve the problem.

Casting















Although time is running out, there's always time for experiments. Here is the Abdomen cast in Easy flow Clear, with the addition of red and orange flow to mimic veins and tissue detail.

-Problem,
The amount of air bubbles inside the resin made the translucence near opaque. Because of the exothermic reaction Placing the material in a vacuum to remove air waited time, so resin cured

-Solution,
Using a tray made from a vacuum former, the easy flow was spread across a wide surface. This helped prevent heat build up slowed the cure time, meaning air could be remove in a vaccuum.

Bag 'o' Sweets















Ever component is ready for painting, The leg were cast using a mixture of

104 grams (optic-clear 31)
10 Drops orange (Tria Ink)
.825 ml of So (Strong White PU pigment Solution) - (solution strength 1 part pigment / 50 part opti-clear-31 part B)

This gave me the perfect amount to fill 2 leg moulds so that the semi-opacity changes as the thickness of the leg increases.

Spines

The dorsal spines of the Dysdera Crocata are essential for Species identification. Having tested various methods of production the most successful is using fibre optic wire.

-Each spine is cut to length
-Sanded to a point using a cordless drill
-Polished back
-stained with Tria Inks
-Laqured to regain transarentcey.

---Painting Has Begun----

Painting

Spider

With all components near complete it is time to paint,

-Legs and feelers, colour predominantly from cast. So only basic Highlighting
-Thorax and abdomen will require the majority of my efforts needed a range of colour.















I'm quite new to airbrushing and have been utilising on-line tutorials. Above is one Thorax test which started well. The base was cast in TRIA red pigmented easy flow clear, the image illustrates the progression of the layers. The 4th going very wrong.

-I have began to keep details records of my paint tests. I record paint mixture and thinner ration, all the way to spray PSI for each layer. Meaning I can easily recreate an effect.

Base
















The base is slowly being painted. To achieve an convinced wood effect I have used washes of emulsion paint. It is slowly working but damn it is time consuming. So far it hasn't been photographing well. I've aimed to only paint using natural light and these photographs were not taken then.

Transil 40 Moulds

Moulds

All the transil 40 moulds have been finished. In the end the 5kg wasn't enough and another 2.5kg was acquired. Every component except the body has a transil mould.

As with the abdomen I opted for a cheaper tin-sure mould and to use a skin of easy flow clear. for the following reasons.

-Cut down time
-Cut down weight
-Required less equipment, (vac chamber etc) so workshop hours no longer issue.

Shiney Time

The moulding didn't happen today, but spent allot of time polishing. Each component of the spider needs to be polished to a high gloss. This will aid me in achieving a near realistic almost liquid surface, so more time was spent polishing.

-More easy flow tests were done, placing in a vacuum does help, but the quick curing time is an issue. Contains air bubbles but as I'm going for a more opaque it is perfect for my application.