Thread: Realistic hands for a gravedigger?

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So, I'm making a gravedigger for my cemetery this year. And I need to make him some hands. I'd like them to be realistic, but they also need to be able to grasp things. A shovel and a lantern for instance. Any suggestions?

You could cast your hand and pour in a mixtures of silicon and flesh coloured paint....
different hands need different molds...



Ruggerz

I have seen people create hands using coat hanger wire, ball point pen tubes, cotton balls and liquid latex. Not the easiest way to get the job done but it would be posable. Not sure of too many stores that sell fake posable hands online.

Here's one you can buy:CARETAKER HANDS
(Made specifically for gravediggers.)

What if you put on a work glove, dip the hand in MM, and then remove your hand the let the glove dry. You could then fill the glove with foam or some other medium.

Oh, I like those caretaker hands and the MM work glove idea a lot! The silicone hands sounds cool too but I heard that silicone is expensive (I think).

I also go for the super realism. If those caretaker hands are not the right positioning for you (those are great though) here's another idea. It's a lot more trouble but you can get the fingers, palm and wrist to be in any position you want.

Get left and right skeleton hands from the Skeleton Store. Life-Size Bucky Skeleton Hand at Skeleton Store | Plastic Skulls and Bones, Skeleton Props Then model paperclay over it. Do it in two layers. First layer is to set the positioning of the hand. The second layer is to put the skin on (you may need a third layer for manly-looking hands). Bake in the oven between layers to speed up drying. Sand (if you want), seal, paint and seal again. Here's pictures of mine in progress.

The original hands from the Skeleton Store that is put into the position I want:






First layer of Paperclay on and dried and I'm checking positioning. One of the hands I changed my mind and was able to bend it into the place I want (cracked the Paperclay but no prob, another layer was going on).







Here's the skin layer. I still need to sand, perhaps add some more Paperclay here and there, add nails, seal, paint and seal again.

Have you considered giving your gravedigger fingerless woolen gloves?
essential gravedigger fashion accessory...and october nights can get a tad chilly...

This way, you would only need to detail the fingers from the second knuckle down and could do a pretty detailed job using the wire and celluclay/paperclay method.

How about just giving him gloves ??

That's how I got around the hand problem with my grave digger

I've got some pictures of my gravedigger in this thread:A few new props

I made a wire "frame" and posed the fingers how I wanted them. I then sprayed Great Stuff foam along the frame. After it dried, I took an exacto knife and carved the hands into the shape I wanted. Then sanded and painted them.