follow-me-eyes

This page belongs to the subject area “linothorax”. The beginning would be here: composite armour

When an imperial paladin notices a handful of eyes opening on his armour this would portend an urgent appointment with the inquisition- but elsewhere there are folks who consider such a mutation an honour of which  you can be very proud indeed because it is a visible sign of the esteem of a deity!

See the picture below with the zoom on the artificial eyes: theyīre looking at the camera!

PA(7)_follow-me-eyes

Epic Empires 2017

I want a handful of natural-sized eyes for my chaos armour. They should look particularly “lifelike” insofar that their pupils shall appear to be moving.

This building- technique is called “follow- me- effect” because thatīs what the eyes do: they look after the observer when he changes position.

PA(6)_follow-me-eyes

Above: the armour- plate seen from the right, frontal and from the left. When you pass by the eyes follow you.

This is an invention of the furries (i.e. the owners of fur-suits which is something else entirely than anthropomorphic characters in larp).

The principle is to build a pupil that is located deep in a lense and leave the rest to the laws of optics.

As always Iīm running out of time and want it cheap- so off to the next budget furnishing house where we aquire a pouch of yellow, flat glass- decoration- thingies nobody really knows the purpose of (if you donīt intend to incorporate them into a chaos armour, that is)...

PA(5)_follow-me-eyes

left:

on top the glass lens,

beneath: the pupil is painted on the lensesī underside with black acrylics (seen from above the pupil is on the bottom of the lens)

then paint the lensesī bottom white for better contrast

below: the finished “eye”.

Iīve opted for vertical pupils which can only “move” to right and left. A round, centered pupil can “see” in every direction but this would mean that my super- armour would potentially be squinting  or worse: from a low angle in a cute way be begging for whatever- and Chaos avoids (at any cost) the raising of cuteness parameters.

Also the vertical goat- or octopuslike pupils make do without an iris and look (un)comfortably non- human.

PA(4)_follow-me-eyes

right:

The eyes are positioned on the armour- plate using Pattex.

This however neither is a reliable attachment nor looks cool:
adhesion and impression will result from the sculpting of the lids.

PA(1)_follow-me-eyes

left:

A first layer of “flesh” is applied using glue (D3 wood glue, water resistant, transparent drying) and pieces of  as- thin- as- possible cloth (scarves for example).

This procedure provides for sufficient adhesion by bonding with the surface forming a very durable composite (“linothorax”).

The lentil- shaped eyes still stand out too much from the ground plate but a second layer of cloth will fix that.

PA(2)_follow-me-eyes

right:

First the lower, then the upper lids are sculpted.

On the picture the glue is already dry. The more precisely one works the less effort it is to scratch glue- remainders off the glass lenses...

Between the eyes the cloth imitates skin folds. Junctions between individual pieces of cloth are not visible.

Then the surface is painted using acrylics.

PA(3)_follow-me-eyes

left:

Again the follow- me- effect. It looks alien and curious when 8 renownedly artificial eyes follow you with their gaze when you change position.

I love it!

Subsequently you only have to resist the temptation to plaster your whole armour with eyes- however on the rear neckguard 2 or 3 “backup lights” have cropped up...

The construction with the composite “skin” has successfully met all challenges of the summer campaign: Neither impacts nor multi- day- rain have led to damage.

After the end of the operation the composite is cleaned with a damp, soft cloth, left to dry thoroughly, then stored dry and aired.

PA(9)_follow-me-eyes

may 2018

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