Here I document my paper mache wolf head race car driver. I made this guy, named “Jonny Fang-io” as a humorous throwback to racing drivers of the past. He is a great conversation piece when displayed. The materials used were Celluclay, joint compound, chip board, newspaper and acrylic paint. This was the first time I had attempted a serious sculpture project.
The idea started with this loose sketch. I had a Bell helmet I wanted to paint. The idea morphed into constructing a sculpture to display the painted helmet. A wolf race car driver seemed like a pretty good idea.
After studying different sculpture methods, I decided to go with a paper mache construction with a wooden support structure underneath. Step one was making a pattern for the wolf’s head. The pattern would be transferred to half-inch chip board.
After the pattern was transferred, it was cut with a jig saw.
Two sides were cut and screwed together. Separated by a 1” block of wood in 3 locations to create the correct width of the frame. It looked pretty good at this point with the helmet on. It was starting to come to life.
Next step was adding the shape with newspaper and masking tape. Layer after layer, building up the shape I wanted.
More tape and newspaper…
And more layers…
Moving ahead, the Celluclay was added. Thin layers were built up and allowed to dry. I found the key to applying this was to keep fingers wet to allow smooth spreading of the material. The Celluclay was fairly easy to use and very strong when dry.
After many layers of Celluclay, the sculpture was sanded, more material added and sanded again. Repeat. Cardboard was then used to shape the collar.
Collar mocked up before more paper clay…
It’s starting to come together at this point…
The helmet fits pretty well…
While the sculpture was drying, I was painting the “wolfy” details on the helmet. Each design was based on real racing logos, except changed to show a wolf theme (Wulf racing, Carnivore spark plugs, Lupine stereo, etc.)
The sculpture was sanded and joint compound was applied and sanded multiple times for a smooth as possible finish. When I was satisfied with the shape, acrylic gesso was applied in preparation for the paint.
And he’s ready for paint, smooth as can be. Yes, a cigarette was added. Wolf race car drivers are dangerous and are known to smoke a lot.
First layer of paint…
Just about finished at this point. Looking pretty cool.
The final product. He was now ready for the art display. A wooden storage box was also custom made for transportation.
The custom storage box for safe travels.