Talos sculpture for Harryhausen exhibition.

The construction of  Talos from  «Jason and the Argonauts». Domingo Lizcano

At the beginning of summer 2009, Asier Mensuro(exhibition curator) told me that he was planning an exhibition on Ray Harryhausen at the Luís Seoane Foundation in La Coruña, Spain. I had already collaborated with him in other exhibitions, especially in those of the model maker Emilio Ruiz del Río. On this occasion, Asier told me that he planned to exhibit the original Harryhausen figures and had thought to reconstruct some miniature settings for these figures. On other occasions, I had worked with Antonio Garcinuño for Asier and in this one, we would have the task of creating dioramas so that the figures were not simply exposed on a table or a showcase. The project looked very promising. I have always been a great fan of Stopmotion animation and obviously, Harryhausen is, and will always be, one of my favorite VFXartists. I was eagerly waiting to receive the starting call to start building the miniature sets, but in late summer Asier called to give me the bad news. There was no budget to create the dioramas. In one single moment, my hopes were dashed. The opportunity to work on the first exhibition of Harryhausen’s original works in Spain seemed to be out of my hands. That couldn’t happen, so I quickly thought that I could offer something to  Asier. It should be cheap but spectacular.  So I thought about offering him a polystyrene carving figure. Thinking about the creatures of Harryhausen it occurred to me that it should be something simple with not too many details, so that it could be done in a short time, with basic materials and thus keep the budget fairly tight. Talos, the bronze giant of «Jason and the Argonauts» came to mind. I called Asier and proposed to him doing the Talos with polyurethane and wood for a very affordable price. The next day he called me to say they accepted. I spoke with Antonio to see if he wanted to collaborate and be in charge of building the base of the statue. There was little money, but Antonio is another Ray´s fan and he accepted.

Normally before starting to carve polyurethane I usually make some sketches. but in this case, it was not necessary. He had many reference images of the figure he was going to carve. I captured several images from the film. Not only from Talos in his initial position which is how he had thought to carve it, but I also did it from other moments in the film to see the details of his clothing, sandals, loincloth, helmet, etc..

On a polyurethane block, I drew the silhouette of the figure in a crouched position, and with hot wire, I cut it out. I cut the arms apart to work them separately. And I cut the body at the waist. Then with a knife, I was refining until I was almost at the final size.

With scraper and sandpaper, I stripped the polystyrene until the desired figure was achieved. I progressed little by little in the different parts: the arms, the legs, and the hip, the torso, and the head.

Meanwhile, Antonio had taken the measures to build the base on which the statue stands. He cut the pieces and put them together solidly. The structure had to be strong but light. The polystyrene figure would not weigh much, and neither should the platform, but it had to be consistent for transport and provide solidity to the piece.

As the figure advanced and Antonio mounted the platform, I went up the polyurethane sculpture and provisionally holding the different pieces to see if the position was right and to correct the errors.

On the other hand, I cut a silhouette of the sword in wood and covered it with polystyrene plates. Once glued together, trim and sand to the desired thickness. The sword must have been firmly attached to the arm, otherwise, it was at risk of breaking during the transportation, or when touched by the public. I made a hole in the foam hand emptying the space where to put the wooden handle of the sword. Once filled with polyurethane foam, sword and arm were fixed.

To create the details of the sandals I used strips of a plastic material similar to neoprene with a thickness of approximately one centimeter. I carved the head independently and once finished I glued it again placing a metal rod inside to reinforce the union.

 

I did the same when hitting the arms that should be tightly attached to the torso. The right arm was also attached at the level of the hand, with the right leg on the knee.

Once the carving was finished, I gave him a coat of plastic paint and fiberglass. This material is sold, depending on its applications, in various thicknesses and shapes. In that case, it was most convenient to use fiberglass in its thinnest form, known as veil. A pair of veil fiberglass and plastic paint and the piece acquired a certain firmness and solidity. I added a little dye to the paint to better appreciate its application.

Once the figure was finished with the appropriate touches to enhance some details, I went to paint the statue with a base paint with a bronze tone, a greenish aging patina. With the references of the film, I painted the sculpture and with the same tones, we gave a coat of paint to the base.

We fix the figure on the base with wooden pins that joined the feet and the left knee with the wood of the base. Once fixed and well attached, it was given the last touches of paint and we took the figure out to the street to see it in direct sunlight. We took a few photos trying to find an angle close to that of the film. The resemblance to that of Harryhausen was quite close.

That figure was done with the purpose of being used in one exhibition, and also with a low budget, so we used ephemeral materials. Once the exhibition was finished, the Luis Seoane Foundation kept the Talos sculpture. Sometime later, Asier Mensuro called me to tell me that on the occasion of Ray Harryhausen’s 90th birthday, the London Film Museum wanted to do a special celebration for the master of animation and they had asked for the Talos figure to Luis Seoane Foundation.

Our Talos figure traveled to London and was present at that  Harryhausen event with such special guests as the honoree Ray Harryhausen, Peter Jackson, Rick Baker, Dennis Muren, Randy Cook, John Landis, Terry Gilliam, Colin Arthur, and a long etcetera of artists and technicians. I was busy with another project and I didn´t go, but now I know I should have made the effort to be there. I guess the Talos figure remained at the London Film Museum.

 

 

That short article was originally written for  Spanish fanzine «los tesoros de Colossa».