Attaching the Head

Once you have finished the steps on the previous page for both arms, your corpse should look similar to the following two images, minus the clavicles and head - which we are now ready to attach. You'll also notice some "filler" placed between the meeting point of the ribs (on the sternum) in these images. That's done using Great Stuff to fill in the gaps that are created when tightening the ribs against the torso. I'll also cover the use of Great Stuff after we finish attaching the head.

Prior to attaching the skull, you may want to add some Minwax gel stain to get rid of that fresh from the factory bucky shine. If you plan on covering the entire head in papier mache then this step is not necessary, but when I add skin to this prop I want to leave some hanging off the face. This will expose the bone, so I want it to be nice and dirty looking! Some bucky body parts absorb the gel stain better than others. For this prop I purchased the one piece, 4th quality skull. I noticed that the gel stain didn't want to seep in as easy as it has on other 4th quality bucky parts. In this event you have to apply more coats to achieve the desired color. I used flash in these images so it's hard to tell what the stain looks like.

I took out the hardware on both sides of my skull - screws and springs. If you plan on leaving the jaw closed, you would probably be ok leaving everything intact, but I love to create agonizing looks on my props. I find agony is more easily accomplished when the jaw is opened nice and wide. So the spring had to go. Once the hardware has been removed, we are ready to slather the skull with gel stain. Again, do not forget to ventilate your work area when working with this stain.

I applied mine in the garage, with the door closed, but used a strong fan to clear the air. The smell is pretty potent. I believe the skull took about three to four applications to achieve the color I wanted. I may just purchase a darker color than the Antique Maple 603 for my next project, so it won't require as many coats. I typically left each coat on for about ten minutes and wiped with a rag between each application.

Next, I turn the skull over after it dries. And, using my 1 inch drill bit, I create a hole in its underside. If you use the bucky 4th quality, one piece skull - there is already a perfect outline and the start of a small hole to guide you in the placement of your bit. The reason I chose a 1 inch drill bit is due to the fact I'm using about a 1 inch (diameter) piece of rigid PVC for the neck. This creates a great snug fit. Use whatever drill bit matches the diameter of the material you are using for your neck.

I then cut my PVC neck at a length of 10.5 inches. Again this is a matter of personal preference. I decided to submerge 1 and 1/4 inches of the neck (on the next step) into the spine itself, to ensure a solid attachment. The majority of the neck is going to be concealed inside the bucky skull as well. After cutting the neck to length, I placed a generous amount of Gorilla Glue on the rim of the pipe to be inserted into the bottom of the skull. I pushed the pipe in until contact was made with the inside of the skull cap. After that, I sank three 2 inch drywall screws, at an angle, through the skull and into the PVC. Like I said- these guys are built to last!

It was then time to take the 1 inch drill bit and drill the hole into the spine (as seen in the image), where the neck would be submerged. I continued drilling and stopping, double checking my measurements until I was about 1 and 1/4 inches into the spine. After preparing the neck's "final resting place" - sorry I couldn't resist the pun - I poured a decent amount of Gorilla Glue into the bottom of the hole and then positioned the neck at the angle and direction I wanted the head facing.

Next, I sunk three screws into the spine and through the PVC- careful not to drive them in in a position that would cause a major splitting of the lumber. You'll notice in the image that the clavicles (made from tubing) have been attached. I forgot to grab a picture of the prop, with the head attached, prior to the clavicles being added- that's ok though, because we are getting ready to attach the clavicles in the next step.