pmc
Member
My wife has become quite interested in CosPlay in recent years, not because she likes science fiction or fantasy but more that she likes the attention. Her real passion is celebrity selfies of which she has many, a number are from the Doctor Who universe, Colin Baker, Peter Davidson, Christopher Eccleston, Matt Smith and Billie Piper.
Anyway the reason for this post is that this year in our local Comic-Con my wife decided she would liken to go as a weeping angel. Looking around for a decent mask proved fruitless as there just seemed to be naff cardboard cutouts. There didn't appear to be any latex ones so even though i've never done this before I decided to make one.
So the process in making a latex mask is to sculpt a model out of clay, create a mould then cast the latex mask. As mentioned I haven't done any of this so with that in mind I ploughed ahead.
One of the good things I had was that last year at a maker fair in Birmingham my wife got a full 3D body scan done and a model produced. I have a copy of the 3D file so was able to isolate her face and use this as a base for the clay sculpture which gave me the correct sizing.
Next came the clay
I was quite pleased with the result so next came the moulding. I boxed in the model and used fine casting powder to create the mould.
Once this was dried for a couple of days I had to remove all the clay from the mould and clean it up. Then I was able to pour the latex
The way this works is you fill the mould and leave it for three hours.
What happens is that the latex starts to set nearest the mould so the longer you leave it the thicker the mask will be. After three hours you pour out the excess latex.
Leaving this to dry over 24 hours.
You can now de-mould the latex mask having put some talc or plaster powder in to stop it sticking to itself.
Result.
At this point I was really pleased as this whole process went without a hitch considering it was my first time.
I then made some wings out of EVA foam and my wife made the dress and wig. I then left her to paint everything which she made a good job of.
I think you will agree the end result is quite good. I did cast another spare mask and have enough latex to do more.
Paul
Anyway the reason for this post is that this year in our local Comic-Con my wife decided she would liken to go as a weeping angel. Looking around for a decent mask proved fruitless as there just seemed to be naff cardboard cutouts. There didn't appear to be any latex ones so even though i've never done this before I decided to make one.
So the process in making a latex mask is to sculpt a model out of clay, create a mould then cast the latex mask. As mentioned I haven't done any of this so with that in mind I ploughed ahead.
One of the good things I had was that last year at a maker fair in Birmingham my wife got a full 3D body scan done and a model produced. I have a copy of the 3D file so was able to isolate her face and use this as a base for the clay sculpture which gave me the correct sizing.
Next came the clay
I was quite pleased with the result so next came the moulding. I boxed in the model and used fine casting powder to create the mould.
Once this was dried for a couple of days I had to remove all the clay from the mould and clean it up. Then I was able to pour the latex
The way this works is you fill the mould and leave it for three hours.
What happens is that the latex starts to set nearest the mould so the longer you leave it the thicker the mask will be. After three hours you pour out the excess latex.
Leaving this to dry over 24 hours.
You can now de-mould the latex mask having put some talc or plaster powder in to stop it sticking to itself.
Result.
At this point I was really pleased as this whole process went without a hitch considering it was my first time.
I then made some wings out of EVA foam and my wife made the dress and wig. I then left her to paint everything which she made a good job of.
I think you will agree the end result is quite good. I did cast another spare mask and have enough latex to do more.
Paul
