Thursday, September 18, 2014

Parasite Specimen

You should take any unusual stomach pains seriously, as this curious specimen demonstrates.  Sadly, it's original host didn't follow that helpful advice.  Heh.

This was sculpted out of polymer clay and painted with acrylics.   The detail work was done with dental tools and some custom texture stamps.   I added the gore just to dress up the photos a bit.  It's essentially  lumpy gravy- cornstarch and water mixed with some food coloring and heated up until it gels.

Just right click on the photos and open in a new tab to see the high resolution versions.





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10 comments:

  1. CoastConFanSeptember 18, 2014 at 4:00 AM

    I’m impressed with your micro texurization and the mouth is a good departure from the typical lamprey look. Generally it’s the microscopic baddies that get you like amoebic dysentery – the slayer of millions over the years, but super tiny beasties don’t make for good movie props.

    Remind me to stay away from the lumpy gravy this Thanksgiving. To give it a little extra squitch factor, consider sprinkling in a few whole kernels of corn into your gravy mix. It will also give viewers an additional point of reference for size.

    A listing of interesting paracites. I personally think #6 is the best for a prop: http://www.cracked.com/article_17199_the-7-most-horrifying-parasites-planet.html

    A few more: http://www.cracked.com/article_19988_the-5-most-nightmarish-worms-planet.html?wa_user1=5&wa_user2=Science&wa_user3=article&wa_user4=recommended

    These guys are small, but are they photogenic: http://petapixel.com/2014/08/05/parasites-get-their-close-ups-in-these-microscopic-tintypes/

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  2. Jason McKittrickSeptember 18, 2014 at 5:14 AM

    It looks like you had fun making this little guy! Nice one.

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  3. fearless-freakSeptember 18, 2014 at 12:51 PM

    if they ever remake night of the creeps this would be perfect in my opinion

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  4. AnonymousSeptember 18, 2014 at 4:33 PM

    Very gross.

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  5. PropnomiconSeptember 18, 2014 at 6:15 PM

    @ CoastConFan

    Those micrographs are horrifying. I love them.

    @ Jason McKittrick

    Thanks, that means a lot coming from you.

    @ fearless-freak

    How can you remake a movie that's already perfect? One of the most under-appreciated horror comedies ever made.

    @ gndn

    I try. Heh.

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  6. screaminscottSeptember 24, 2014 at 7:53 AM

    I wonder if a can if stewed tomatoes would work as gore, for less effort?

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  7. PhilOctober 9, 2014 at 1:11 AM

    Well that should put people off baked beans for awhile. :) Well done sir!

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  8. AnonymousOctober 22, 2014 at 4:55 PM

    How did you accomplish the texturing on the tentacle arms? They have an excellent segmented look that I can never really pull off.

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  9. PropnomiconOctober 22, 2014 at 5:32 PM

    @ Anonymous

    Roll out the tentacle shape and then use a comb to add the segments. Press the teeth of the comb down on the clay and gently roll the tentacle back and forth.

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  10. AnonymousOctober 23, 2014 at 1:58 AM

    Brilliant! Your blog has taught me a lot about texturing, so thanks for all the hard work.

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