Gibbet FX

03/08/2025

Ok. So this is an interesting one. This is Xerxes the Manticore and the Gibbet FX mascot. I sculpted his head ( all 4 feet of it!) and cast it in silicone. Painted it and added quills onto a literal physical model.
I then took a photo of that head and brought it into Photoshop. Here I made the composition of the extended body and background as a single 2d image.
Fast forward to now.
I ran the single image through the AI editor and got this.
What's interesting is that it's still my IP but the render takes cues from that to "extend" it.
Still has a problem with scorpion tails though and wants to turn them into tentacles.
I have to say, I'm finding this quite intriguing.

25/07/2025

An Early Start
The tiny mouse-sized ancestral mammal Megazostrodon searches for breakfast one prehistoric morning. Megazostrodon lived from the late Triassic to early Jurassic.
The model was 3d printed,painted and placed on a small diorama I made. It was then photographed in my garden. An AI editor provided the final environmental render,rigging and movement.

20/07/2025

Oni Trophy.
Used a bit of AI rigging to breath "life (?)" into this sculpt I did some time ago.
Seems like Oni won't die even when you cut off their head and stick it on your wall.

15/07/2025

Big Pointy Teeth. Used the AI editor to bring the model I made of the Killer Bunny from Monty Python and the Holy Grail to life.
Sort of works..

14/07/2025

Another quick AI experiment with one of the many " junkbots" I built. Has a few issues but quite a nice movement overall. A "GOON" is laying down covering Fire and a smokescreen for retreating troops.
Original model & pic in comments.

14/07/2025

Hmm. Mixed feelings about using AI here but considering it's on something I actually made, I suppose it's fair game...
I have to admit,it does open some intriguing doors for future experimentation..

01/07/2025

A fun couple of days were had running the recently Gibbet FX Creature Design course. This time it had the theme of "Look What The Cat Dragged In !!.."
The brief was quite simple really. Sculpt,mould cast and paint some small,weird (& unfortunate) Creature that has shuffled off this mortal coil ( possibly due to the attentions of an enthusiastic pet).
But that's not all! Then get a picture with said pet and your creation.
The student knocked it out the park I'm sure you agree, with a hideous bat,snake fetus-thing that frankly put me off my lunch.
Regrettably (and ironically),I don't own a pet so had to settle for my demo sculpt being simply a washed-up monstrosity.
Further Creature Design courses are upcoming over the Summer. Check out details on the Gibbet FX website.

18/06/2025

So,I've spent the last month and a half getting to grips with 3d printing,exploring the possibilities of it's use as an additional tool to my existing physical model-making and sculpting skills. I'm quite impressed so far! The following pics are of existing 3d files I printed then painted. It should be stressed here that they are not my 3d sculpt but the paint jobs and finish are.
Intrigued to refresh my dormant 3d digital sculpting skills to see what I can do from scratch. Exciting!!
The pics are of:
Hypnotoad from Futurama
Headpiece of the Staff of Ra from Raiders of the Lost Ark
A Kryss Knife from the 1984 movie of Dune
The Willendorf Venus,a 30,000 year olds neolithic sculpture
A bust of David Lynch
The Skull of Homo Florensis ( aka The Hobbit) an extinct species of human
A PSI Judge badge from 2000AD

Showing painted finish and original prints for clarity!

13/05/2025

Summer Is Icumen In
The Gibbet FX Summer Course Schedule is now LIVE!!
PLUS - NEW COURSES!
Some really fun additions this year which I'm quite excited about!
Peruse,like and share as you see fit my friends.
Cal, Gibbet FX

Sculpture,Props and Prosthetics,oh my!

17/02/2025

New SFX & Prop Making courses for Spring 2025 are now live!
To view & book visit the website at:

Sculpture,Props and Prosthetics,oh my!

21/01/2025

Lovely afternoon SFX chat and demo at Beeslack High School, Penicuik. It's a strange world indeed that I am paid to do this to your children.

19/12/2024

(Warning - Gruesome Makeup!)
In the last few months of 2024 it was my great pleasure to run the SFX makeup partnership schools scheme in 16 schools across Scotland. The scheme serves as an introduction to the Practical Special Effects side of the Film & TV industry and was delivered in participating schools to pupils from S4-S6 with a view to increasing their awareness of the profession as a potential future career path. It was an intensive series of workshops that focused on creating prosthetics appliances from scratch, out-of-kit makeup FX and discussions on career options and how SFX relates to filmed media.
Participants ( also including the teachers) had a chance to get hands-on and all the images you see are their own work completed on the course.
I am particularly pleased that this year I was able to bring the scheme further beyond the Central Belt taking in Orkney, Aberdeenshire,Fife, Dumfries, Ayrshire,Bute and Clydebank. This is something I would certainly like to build upon in the future as well as allowing more access in regions that suffer high levels of social inequality. Everyone deserves a chance to explore!
Over 170 participants took part over the course of the scheme and this was only made possible due to vital funding from Screen Scotland via the Screen Education Fund.