THE DUAH: ON CRYPTIDS AND KAIJU

Boy, have I been busy!

Not only is Antediluvian finished (in rough draft form), but many new projects can now take the spot light! However, before I elaborate, I must discuss my most recent puppet for my kaiju flick, Kyoryu: the Duah.

In Kyoryu's world, the kaiju (known collectively as "Serpents"), are complete mysteries. Nobody knows why they exist or even how they could support their weight. However, almost all of them resemble mythical monsters from across the globe, making many believe they are the first sign of the apocalypse. Though this isn't exactly the main plot of Kyoryu, it's still heavily relevant. The Duah, or Ropen, is based off a flying demon reported by the native tribes of Papua, New Guinea. Described like a lizard with bat wings, a long beak full of teeth, and a long tail, as well as bioluminescence. A living pterosaur that evolved over the milenia? An unknown species of bat? A hoax? Anyway, it's a cool legend, and it would make a cool kaiju. When sculpting Kyoyu, I used a sketch of a flying beast for the basis of the sculpt and made the head.

Like all reports of living Pterosaurs, a very common theory is that it's an unidentified species of giant bat, a theory endorsed by famous cryptozoologist Ivan T. Sanderson. I decided not to remove the bat nose from the sculpt to indicate the Duah could be both Bat and Pterodactyl. It's not a natural creature anyway, and it looked strange.

however, disaster struck. The plaster was incredibly poor and I could only save half the sculpt, losing the crest and using the latex cast off it to build his neck. Even worse, his eyes aren't straight!

My mistake was sticking the armature inside the latex cast and filling it up with hot glue. Not only did one eye sort of sink into the skull, but I couldn't fix it! Despite this, it at least looked okay when I added teeth.

In fact, it was easier to add teeth than it ever was before. The roof of the mouth was hot glue, so I melted it and stuck the teeth in the holes! I also like the two teeth at the very tip of the lower jaw. It gives purpose to the distended lower jaw and looks more bat-like.

I then used black sculpey to sculpt obsidian plated growing off his back, which I glued to the spine. So far, the Duah looks truly amazing.

The third creature in the film is the parasite, hanging off Kyoryu's stomach. He is not stop motion, but the first of many parasites that will be in a truly disturbing scene. While I'm working on how to build the other parasites, this one is built to be hand held, and if successful, will make a truly memorable scene. I cut the teeth off the original sculpt for the head, and casted it. It came out perfectly. Then, I simply poked holes through the top where teeth should be, shoved toothpicks up them, and glued them in place.

I have to say, this is a truly awesome head. It looks wonderfully creepy and will only look creepier with a paint job!

However, Kyoryu is not the only project on my plate. I have scripts for a cartoon, an idea for a future film, and a fantasy world I will write some short stories on. However, that is for another time.

Thank you for reading. Please comment.

Kelston Hubler