Heads
The head is important for most giants and its not a bad place to start as once made, a head can be adapted for different bodies and can last a long time. It can be a serious head, a comic head, historic character or pure fantasy, the choice is up to the maker.
Everyone can have their own ideas of making heads, but for completeness, this is a simple way and doesn't cost much.
Things that are needed are:
Moulds, these used here were based on borrowed plastic planters, see the pictures, but buckets the right shape will do, and the shape can be changed as you go along.
Chicken wire. If you are making lots of heads then buying a roll of chicken wire might be worthwhile, but generally finding someone who has a metre or two spare is the easiest source. Having some ordinary wire is also useful for joining parts together.
Wire. The wire used here was for use in a garden but any stiff wire that will hold the parts together temporarily will do.
Old newspaper. It will take a few newspapers to make a head, depending on the size of newspaper and the size of head, but the paper will be torn up into smaller parts so any size does as long as there is enough. Magazines aren't a good choice as they tend to have surfaces that don't absorb teh glue well.
Glue. In this case, wallpaper paste is good, but also glue made of flour and water works, though can go mouldy. Tubes/cans of glue are no good, it needs to be something which the newspaper can absorb and lots of cheap glue is best! Sharing glue between several giants is a good idea as a packet of wallpaper paste can sometimes do several heads. Watch out for glue with added fungicides if you have sensitive skin, wearing rubber gloves might be needed.
You will need tools for doing this, wire cutters for cutting, pliers for bending and twisting. Wire can be sharp and difficult to handle, so wearing gloves can help prevent injury, and while unusual, wearing goggles can prevent eye injury while cutting and bending.
Also buckets for glue!
This picture shows the base of the head being shaped around a plastic planter. The chicken wires has been cut to a short length which is wrapped around the planter and then tied together with wire. If the wire is loose, it can be tightened up to the shape using the pilers. This is forming the shape over which the head is made, so doesn't have to be perfect.
This picture shows the top of the head formed over a hanging basket. The ends of the chicken wire have been cut and bent to hold it together.
In order to hold the head centrally, a piece of wood is wired into the top of the head. This will be helpful when painting the head later and for locating the head on a pole when on top of the giant.
Here is the detail of the supporting wood piece from the top. This is round but it's doesn't have to be perfect, just functional.
Here the pieces are tied together. A short piece of old drainage pipe has been fixed in place, the bottom of the head has been placed over it, and then the top with supporting wooden piece inserted. The top and bottom have then been wired together and a bit of gentle shaping done to get it into a head shape.
For some this is the best bit covering the frame with paper strips. Tear the newspaper into strips, not more than 20cm is best. Make up a batch of glue, slightly weaker mix than recommended if using wallpaper glue. Then dip the strips in the glue and stick them over the wire frame. Lay the strips over the frame in a cross-cross pattern and shorten them to fit closely. Do this for two or three layers before stopping or when the glue runs out. Then leave for a few hours to dry out, overnight in a warm place is good.
This takes a bit of patience, but after its dried, do it all again, mix the glue, tear the strips and cover the forming head evenly with paper. Keep track of how many layers have been added and keep repeating the process until 8 to 10 layers have been added all over the head.
When adding the last layers, the features can be added to the side to become the front or face. In the picture, a nose, mouth, eyes and ears have been moulded out of paper strips. A neck has also been added to the base by using rolled up newspaper soaked in glue.
Here is the head painted, its been given an overall coat of paint to give the skin colour, then lips and eyes, after which a marker pen was used to add beard, eyebrows and stubble.
This head is going to have a covering so doesn't need painting at the rear. The same will apply if adding hair.
The next pictures show other heads that have been made.
This head had moulded shoulders added and has been reinforced with moulded fibreglass and resin to make it stronger and more robust.
A finished head, again with shoulders added. The 'hair' is garden string which has been teased out and dyed. A bit of cheap jewellery has been added for fun.
This is a fun head for makeup enthusiasts, with 'cleopatra' eyes.
And the same head finished with part of the torso made. In this case the giant was going to be wearing a low cut dress so needed the extra torso piece to be made. The hair is plastic stretched and curled over a pencil.
The torso was made separately and painted the same colour to match.