A Nice Kind of Horror Show at CES
The sight of numerous severed hands at the Lenovo CES Product Showcase does not seem to be keeping away the crowds. With help from the Event Strategy Group, the hands—fashioned by New York-based Costume Armour Inc.—are being put to good use, propping up the many new products on display while putting into perspective their often slim profiles.
Costume Armour has created props for Broadway productions, movies, TV shows, and others for more than 40 years. Which is great for us—after creating a 22-foot-tall Ho Chi Minh for Miss Saigon, molding and casting a few hands for Lenovo must have seemed like a simple task. Or perhaps not.
Positioning the hands for the Lenovo products actually required a high degree of precision. After casting them in rubber material, they used the molds to make plaster castings, which were then refined to remove skin texture and other details that might distract from the products. They made slight indentations so the PCs and smartphones would be held perfectly in position. Next, they coated the hands, made yet another set of rubber molds and produced the final finished sculpture—a special fiberglass resin mixed with marble dust. Threaded steel inserts were positioned in the mold. After some minor sanding and priming, the hands were painted with a two-part automotive paint, giving them a durable finish and high luster.
