Balloon Chat
Uncategorized Boards => Balloon Review => Topic started by: nippy99 on November 20, 2011, 12:28:46 AM
Balloon Review 021 - SUPERHEROES TEAM 2 BY KEN STILLMAN DVD
Ken Stillman is an excellent balloon artist and has made some significant designs that have advanced balloon modelling in recent years. Ken's superhero collection is no exception. Using a combination of hearts and rounds, Ken has created some unique faces. Using these techniques and a variation of colours a whole collection of superheroes are easily created.
Ken is an excellent teacher. I would say these designs are for twisters who have some experience especially if you are unfamiliar with twisting small bubbled on heart lobes and the side of round balloons. The very deep 'S Twist' or 'Hook Twist' is essential and this can involve popping several balloons the first time you try it.
This DVD is available from various stores and can be found using the link below for $35 plus shipping.
http://shop.diamondstorm.com/index.php? ... cPath=3_15 (http://shop.diamondstorm.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3_15)
Onto the review.....
BLUE BUG MAN
This model reminds me of a vintage batman. The one that used to appear on the TV series when I was a child. The standard superhero head uses two hearts but for this design just the lower half of the face uses a heart and the upper half with a 260Q. This head design is less prone to popping as it is easier to regulate the pressure in the 260Q and is fairly quick to make. The photo below was my first attempt a few years ago. Since then I have been able to make better bodies using more carefully sized bubbles but this does give you some idea of what it looks like. A simple change of colours to black and grey or all black gives you a more modern batman. A lovely design and was very popular when the Batman movies were released. I have made this so many times I can do it in my head!
[attachment=0:dae6v2og][/attachment]244-bluebugman.gif[/attachment:dae6v2og]
LEPRECHAUN VILLAIN
This design uses a lime green round for the upper head. It's funny but in Ken's audio he mentions that it would be good if they made lime green hearts! How times have changed. Actually i still prefer to use a round balloon as it makes for a nice hat. The addition of a 160Q around the rim of the hat is effective and this body design is very easy to make and faster than the standard superhero body. This character reminds of of a batman bad guy or something from Enter The Dragon (but perhaps that is me getting muddled again) - I love this one!
Forgot to mention, the method Ken uses here to attach the ears is lovely and is extremely useful when designing other models, for example, attaching ears to a 646Q without using raisins.
[attachment=0:1auzanng][/attachment]246-leprechaunvillain.jpg[/attachment:1auzanng]
The first time I made the bug man, my neibour said it looked a bit like sporticus from lazy town, since then I've just adjusted the colours and artwork slightly and made sporticus every time!! :)
I have been using a modified Bug man as Sporticus for some time now to great success.
I also used the basic figure design as a basis for a Darth Vader I did for a friend too.
Wish I could have gone to a 'Ken' day, alas life got in the way, maybe next time, I think his work is very good indeed
Thank you! I love these sculptures and will surely give them a try. :D
Here is the Sporticus I made with a superhero variation.
[attachment=0:3es04rnr][/attachment]sporty.gif[/attachment:3es04rnr]
There is still more models to come from this DVD - if you own this DVD did you find the surprise model??
I always watch these sorts of dvd's on my laptop, a great tip a learned from my brother if you can't find the bonus stuff, is to download a program called VLC and there's a playback menu that shows all the chapters that are available to play, I know it cheating but it does mean you don't miss anything!! :)
SIDEKICK KID
A really interesting head design that includes a curl on top of the head using a very deep tulip twist to make an 'S' shape. This is a little challenging and I popped many balloons trying to shape a 160Q in this way. I mastered it after a while and now do not have too many problems. The body is the standard superhero one. I am guessing this is Robin, Batman's sidekick.
[attachment=0:17y4opwe][/attachment]247-sidekickkid.jpg[/attachment:17y4opwe]
SUPERHERO HAT
I love this one! A slightly more advance face this time with eyebrows. The hat body is an excellent idea and I had fun running around the house this evening.
Highly recommended.
[attachment=0:98h45w7p][/attachment]249-superherohat.jpg[/attachment:98h45w7p]
[attachment=1:98h45w7p][/attachment]super2.jpg[/attachment:98h45w7p]
Superior Man
A slight variation on the previous hat design. In this one the standard superhero body is used. I have added a cape on the back. I used this at a birthday party today and some of the children said it was spiderman! I must be doing something wrong. A nice balloon and as always the head is a challenge for less experienced twisters.
[attachment=0:3bcuj2pt][/attachment]248-superiorman.jpg[/attachment:3bcuj2pt]
Clown Villain
I am guessing this a variation of The Joker. I like this balloon as it uses the more simplistic body but not the most recognisable balloon. I still love it though.
[attachment=0:2a82asa9][/attachment]245-clownvillian.jpg[/attachment:2a82asa9]
SPACEMAN
There is a hidden bonus model at the end of the titles with Don Caldwell pretending to be Ken Stillman.Very funny. This design is for a well known spaceman - clearly I wasn't concentrating very well as my end result looks more like Frankenstein. I thought I would post it so you could have a laugh.
[attachment=0:owzgyl5f][/attachment]250-spaceman.jpg[/attachment:owzgyl5f]
SUMMARY
Wow this DVD took a while to review and just when I made my 500th post on these forums I finished it. As with Ken's previous superhero DVD this collection of characters is superb. I wouldn't recommend buying this DVD unless you have studied volume 1. This DVD is challenging as it uses deep hook twists, and twisting lobes on hearts and rounds which if you haven't done this before it takes a bit of practice.
Ken's instructions are excellent, very clear.
Another classic DVD.