Gent's Minion Challenge

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The Minions are coming ..........

.. a cheeky teaser so you can all see I really am working on this. Plan of attack for eyes has changed completely after seeing Soaping 101's carving video. So glad I saw that before making any more attempts.

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Been caught up in house renos and spring gardening but this morning I took some time out to get a bit farther on the Minions. Thought I might as well share some proper pics since they're almost done. Not sure how I'll plane these when I'm done since I don't have a planer .. ??? hmmm ???

ETA: I have more black, blue and yellow soap and soap scraps around my house than any one person can possibly use *sighs*. I had no idea making these would generate so much excess, although now that I've figured out what I'm doing *IF* I ever made them again I hope there would be less.

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Another thing for next time (*IF* there is a next time) .. not sure I'd do this same recipe again. I used 100% co with 100% coconut milk in an effort to keep the colours clean without using TD and as well thought things would harden faster so I could get these soaps done quicker. However, since I didn't work on them every day this recipe was a bit brittle when carving and some pieces broke loose from each other (look at the pics around the pants and suspenders and you'll see the separation). I think a softer recipe might give a person some leeway or a softer carve and also allow the new soap being poured a better chance of sticking to previous pours.
 
looking good mzmolly, cant wait to see the end result. i agree, a 100% co recipe is not a good candidate for carving. i had problems cutting mine with a wire cutter, i gotta use a knife. cant imagine carving.
 
looking good mzmolly, cant wait to see the end result. i agree, a 100% co recipe is not a good candidate for carving. i had problems cutting mine with a wire cutter, i gotta use a knife. cant imagine carving.

Actually Seven .. they carve really nice. If I were going to carve soap for art or mold making I'd use this recipe. I think I could get great detail and it has a nice ability to shave curls off it, but what's happening that I don't like is the different colours are not sticking to each other properly because I'm pouring them too many days apart. I think if I were pouring them day after day they would stick better.
 
So after a VERY, VERY long hiatus I am staring at the Minion's .. only their irises and pupils left to go but the poor things are covered in a layer of dust from sitting on the shelf so long. I've spent the whole summer renovating a bathroom and multiple other things, plus started a new job and pulled out an old hobby when my niece asked me to knit her "shark socks" .. so the poor Minions have been thoroughly neglected.

They need to be finished soon as Christmas is around the corner and I need to mail them so ............ I'll stick a deadline on them and say the Minions will be finished by Nov 26th. Now to find a planer .............. *gulp*
 
Oh wow! How is it that I've never seen this thread! I love the Minions! I've even been known to sing the Bo Du Bleeb lullaby before bedtime on occasion (yes, I have the words memorized ):

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FngXiTm4gcs[/ame]

I wish we had Minion smilies here.

I can't wait to see the finished soaps!


IrishLass :)
 
Alright .. here's the photo diary of the Minions

The plan and one of the molds I used .. instant oatmeal cereal box

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I used a cardboard insert in my silicone mold and poured the pants first. Sorry but the photo doesn't show the cardboard shaping for the pants well. I poured the pants upside down in a U shape with the bib being the U. Once dry I unmolded them and then turned them over and put them back into a different mold with the bib upright

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Then my camera experienced a huge glitch and while I thought I had photos of the next step .. I didn't. Huge apologies. I put the block of pants into another mold, tall and narrow, so that the front of the bib was facing upward and used a silicone cutting mat to shape the heads and poured the yellow for the main body/head.

Bascially I poured all the pants and body/heads at once, with the original plan being to cut them into individual soaps after they were complete. But several failed attempts to make proper eyes and Soaping 101's soap carving video encouraged me to cut them into individual soaps before completing the rest.

Then also missing due to the camera glitch, I cut the block into individual Minions and carved out the goggle frames using a hole saw blade. I rested the blade on the soap and tapped it into the soap with a hammer, then turned it and tapped again and continued doing this until the entire circle was cut through.

After that I marked the strap locations for the goggles and pants but didn't want to separate the head into two pieces (as you'll see below if you look closely for the mark lines). I poured the frame for the goggles next, using a piece of rubber tube to prevent the entire circle from being filled because I didn't have another saw blade in the right size to cut the eye.

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The four Minions waiting for goggles

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Goggles poured

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rubber stops removed, straps carved out and Minions in another mold for next pouring

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A view in the long mold with straps and eyes poured. This mold is just 1" styrofoam cut to shape, pinned in place with nails and lined with parchment paper.

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Drilling out the irises. I just use a drill bit turned by hand, no drill involved.

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Today .. irises poured using powdered cocoa to get a brown colour .. it's supposed to lighten with curing *crosses fingers*

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The final steps will be to drill again for black pupils and then plane the soaps when cured. ETA: You can see how much they've shrunk in the past months if you notice the gap between the soaps. Originally they fit tight in this mold.
 
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