First, you need some wire. You can use coat hanger wire, but I prefer something a bit more flexible. Lay it under your palm from your index finger tip to the bend in your wrist and make a bend. Make another bend about an inch from there and cut it off at the tip of your pinky finger. Do the same for the middle finger~ring finger section. Cut another piece for the thumb as pictured.
Now, tape the pieces together.
At this point, what I did was I layed the fingers over a roll of tape and put my container of mache goo on top to sort of prop it up so I could work with it easier. Then I started applying the snot rag.
Brush some mache’ onto the wires at the palm, lay a piece of torn TP on top, and carefully brush on more mache’. Press another piece of TP on that, and flip it over. Do the same to the other side. Now, brush on some more mache’ to the edges and fold them up over one side.
Then I lightly taped the fingers to a tin can and put it in the oven at 150 degrees to dry for a few minutes while I read E-mail. 😉
At this point, I decided where I wanted the ‘crotch’ of the thumb and then built up to the fingers. The next lowest ‘crotch’ is between the pinky and ring finger. Start there, and then build up to the other fingers. Then, back in the oven.
Then, I started building up the fingers. Brush a finger wire with mache’ and lay a thin strip of TP on. Gently add mache’ up the middle and add another piece of paper. Make a third layer and flip the hand over.
Brush on more mache’ and using the paintbrush, fold over one side then the other. When you have the four fingers consturcted, throw it back in the oven and go drink a Beer.
Notice that I spread the fingers out a bit to make it easier to work with.
Ok, Now it should be just dry enough to shape it.
Now I need to decide how I want my fingers bent.
Using my own hand as reference, I bent the fingers where the knuckles will be, and curved the hand to form a palm. Look at your own hand in the position that you want your mache’ hand to be in and notice where your thumbnail and fingernails are. Now, construct the thumb.
Once I have the hand the shape and thickness I want, I make knuckles.
You can either take a small wad of paper and dip it into the mache’ and apply it that way…
or you can put a small amount of mache’ on the knuckle area, lay a thin strip of paper on it, add more mache’ and fold the paper over and over to build a knuckle up that way. Either way works, and you can always dremel it into shape later if you want to.
When you have a knuckle in place, cover it with a small piece of TP and press the knuckle into shape.
Back into the oven it goes until it’s dry and firm enough to handle.