How to make a latex prosthetic mask?

Question:

How to make a latex prosthetic mask?

Does anyone know how to make one?

what do i need?

how long does it take?

i cant seem to find a site with any info about it

thanks

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: If you take your time it can be easy but it is time consuming as well.

Get some oil based clay and do your sculpt. I'd suggest getting a foam wig head and cover it in a plastic bag to use as a armature. You can ussually get them at a spa, costume shops, wig stores beauty shops, places like that.

When doing your sculpt be sure not to have extreme back cuts. It's harder to get the sculpt from the mould and it also makes it more difficult to remove the sculpt as well.

When you make your mould, if you're only going to make one or two you can use regular plaster of paris. It's cheaper and will do the job. If you want to do more than use pottery plaster. it's harder and will hold detail longer.

Make sure you get good even coverage on the first couple coats of plaster ecspecially the first coat. you want to make sure there are no air pockets in the plaster or it will trash the mask. get some paint brushes and paint the plaster on making sure to get it in all the detail spots. Take your time, the more time you spend here the better the results will be.

Once you get the first layers on you can start building up the plaster to strengthen it. I usually build out about an inch and let it harden. You're not done yet, get some burlap and cut it into strips. put the strips in plaster and put them on the mould to give it strength then add more plaster on top of that.

It going to be messy but it's fun. Set what you have aside to dry completely the remove the sculpt. You may have to fight with it a bit but it'll come out. take some small tools such as picks and carfully make sure you remove all remains of the clay.

Grab the latex again I prefer to lightly brush in the first coat to make sure I don't get air bubbles and to make sure it gets in the detail as well. After the first coat you can pour it in. after you pour take the mould and keep moving it and turning it to make sure you keep getting it all over for about twenty minutes. pour out the excess back into the bottle and let it dry.

once dry remove what you have and something should be staring back at you. trim and cut what you need before you start to paint. That way when you paint you can cover all the cut edges as well. You can use the head you used as the armature as a paint stand as well. I usually spray down the latex with 3m super adhesive before I paint because it helps the paint stick. paint it and wear it. I Use acrylics and have had good success with them.

If you want to do a full head and to get completely detailed instructions go to the monster makers web site, (I think it's monstermakers.com) and get the downloadable book, It shows you how to do a full head down to the tinyest detail. The last time I looked it was 25 bucks but well worth it.

Hope this helps and good luck