The second best film fight of all time on my list is Jackie vs. Benny in WHEELS ON MEALS! Right after Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris' fight of the century in THE WAY OF THE DRAGON. What makes this fight so unforgettable is Jackie's character, Thomas overcoming the fearsome newcomer, undefeated World Kickboxing Champion, Benny 'The Jet' Urquidez as Mondale's henchman. It all started out to be fun and games for Thomas and friends, but soon, Mondale's henchman would wipe the smiles off everyone's faces. When Jackie ran out of tricks--he was sleeveless remember? He buckled down and reminded himself it was just a training session. Just like he and David played by Yuen Biao, practices every morning. Jackie's trademark antics and well timed music gives a jolt of energy in the second round right to the final KO knee!
Exhibit II.
Exhibit III. The title of this piece is called TREAT IT LIKE TRAINING.
Exhibit IV.
Exhibit V.
Using Padico's LaDoll series Premier stone clay, the basic head and features are sculpted. As it dried, the rest of the head was filled out and the expression is good to go.
I used oil based modeling clay for temporary hair to check facial proportions and balance. What seemed to be good at the time would come to haunt me later... you'll see lol.
Styrofoam blocks were fitted over the aluminum armature and shaved down to give a general form. Wooden joints used at the shoulders and ankles as connectors.
The entire body was coated in styrofoam ready for the stone clay coating. The concept behind the styrofoam is making super lightweight statues. Thomas can stand well balanced on his own. Believe me?
The stone clay dried after 6 hours. Then it can be carved, sanded and polished. Applying water to an area will moisten and soften the stone clay again to be re-worked as much as you like. Fabrics for the New Balance tanktop were set.
Still much refining work on the overall muscles and facial expression. Nothing was set in stone yet. With constant updates to specific areas, it is vital to update to the rest of the statue to keep balance and consistency. Golden rule.
Before I got started on the tanktop, the fabrics took a good week to find, store after store... :( the leather bicycle gloves would go on first. I penciled on the hands for size reference.
Still tweaking and refining areas. The skin got more coats of paint. I added the pattern work on the wrap around his hips under the sash and painted the Olympic Rings logo on his tights. Channeling Hannibal Lechter at this point.
The little snap-on buttons on the gloves would be added later on. Tank top completed. Painted the New Balance logo. Since the gray fabric was fine mesh and see through, the waist needed to be painted gray. A neat little trick.
The shoes were made with black canvas and rubber for the soles. The socks were little leg-warmers... not actually over his foot because that would be insane, right? Yeah, I'm not quite there yet. Oh, wait! Magnets were embedded in the soles for the metal base I have planned.
My technique for hair was adapted from Ryo Yoshida, a master ball-jointed doll maker. The removed scalp was hollowed out and slit from back to front for five separate openings. Long doll hair was fed through each line.
After some quality time on the hair styling with mousse and the help of my trusty aluminum wire sidekick, the results were passable. After a series of photographs, I knew it wasn't going to work out...
Back to the drawing board as they say. I would be stuck on this stage for about a month because I just didn't feel it. This would be Round One and I was getting knocked around!
I'm giving it my all and it just seemed that playful grin of Jackie's kept eluding me, as if it were The Mona Lisa's. If I had thick hair like Jackie, it would have been all torn out!
Round Two: I'm hitting back hard and getting some momentum but something kept knocking me back down. There must have been at least 9 or 10 versions of his face made.
If I remember correctly, here I was feeling pretty good about it. Once the front layer of hair went on, it felt like an uppercut to my nose. I was seeing stars. Now, I was angry. Beyond angry!
Ripped out Jackie's hair instead because I don't have any. Rounds One and Two were nightmares, but the worst was yet to come. I caught a second wind while telling myself: relax and just... treat it like training.
Starting over is never a bad thing. It's better than trying to fix something that is already beyond repairing. Save your precious time and just reset. It's Round Three! I came out re-energized--hitting hard!
Even though the expression wasn't quite there yet, I just knew... momentum began to swing my way. Yep, epic bad hair day! LOL.
Not giving up on this version. The grin began to shine through... there was light! Remember what Thomas / Jackie said in the movie when he got punched in the nose? "Mom was right! Due dilligence reaps rewards, laziness gains you nothing!"
Welcome to the PD family, Thomas. One important lesson I learned throughout this episode of "Jackie's face hell" was making an ensemble piece required more patience to find balance between two statues.
There will be more shots on the making of the Afghani rug and base in the next post along with the 'MAKING OF MONDALE'S HENCHMAN'. The embedded magnets in their shoes kept them standing securely on the metal tray. Stone clay was coated along the sides before the wooden panels were in put place.
The base was given a few coats of gesso and sanded down before starting on tile painting and panel finishings. The only things missing are the tassles on the rug ends.
Testing the balance of the ensemble piece. Luckily nothing needed to be scrapped or revised. Tassles were aligned in place one at a time. Tweezers are a hand-crafter's best friend.
And here he is. Thomas aka Jackie Chan and base.
Thank you for watching and reading. Stay tuned for my next long-ass post on the making of Mondale's Henchman aka Benny 'The Jet' Urquidez.
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