A question for all the mask experts

[Honus1]

So I've been doing a fair amount of research, calling companies, etc. regarding what material to use when making my mask. The material choice will be a bit tricky as it is to be an animatronic mask.

So my choices are:

Latex cast in Ultra Cal 30 - simple and inexpensive but the flexibility could be a serious problem, even with softening additives

Foam latex- good flexibility but quite a bit more of a pain to work with as it requires an oven and from the companies I've spoken to the durability is questionable

Silicone- excellent flexibility and outstanding realism but slightly more complex molding procedure and greater expense- it's also heavier than foam latex. I am very familiar with working with silicones however and fully understand them. Some silicones require the use of a vacuum chamber and some don't- I have a vacuum chamber at work if needed but the material I'm looking at using right now doesn't rquire it.

Another idea I had is to make a standard Ultra Cal 30 mold and do a thin latex coating. Then I would lay in some thin upholstery sheet, give it a coat of latex and vacuum bag it under slight vacuum. Anyone ever tried something like this?

Any help?

 

[Mortal Immortal]

Latex is easy to use and to paint. It will last for years, if properly taken care of, and is the cheaper route.

Foam Latex is nice and flexible, but breaks down quick. Its hard to keep paint from flaking and peeling off after time. Think of it like a head liner in a car when it falls down. It not that the glue is coming undone, but the foam drying out and falling apart that cause its to fall. Besides the oven you have to have a negative and positive mold.

Silicone is strong flexible and will last longer then foam latex. It can only be painted with tinted silicone or special silicone paints. Dragon Skin or Gel 10 can be brushed into the mold to make the skin and cures in 30 min. Other silicones have to have a negative and positive mold.

You can use a shop vac and a sealed bucket to make vacuum chamber.

Not sure what you mean by upholstery sheets. But pancaking foam between latex and latex is not good. If you have any small hole in the latex you can trap moister inside and that can cause mildew or cause the foam to rot out faster.

 

[Honus1]

Thanks for the advice!

I'm aware of the issues with silicones, including the painting procedure. Vacuuming it isn't a problem for me- I do it all the time. Dragon Skin and Gel 10 are exactly what I was looking at using, so good to know I was at least in the ballpark there...

Good to know about the mildew issue w/ latex- I hadn't thought of that! That could have been nasty.....

I think the foam latex is out of the picture- just too many hassles.

So the big question is if I can make a regular latex mask flexible enough- might be only one way to know for sure!

Thanks again- I really appreciate te input!

 

[maverick118]

You should be able to make a simple slush cast latex mask thin enough to be still very flexible for this...Though it probably would require making an underskul to support it and keep it's shape well....One tip I'll pass on when making these things is to make the outer mandibles seperate and attatch them later....Sounds an awkward way to do it, but it will allow for greater stretch and flexibility in the piece, if the jaws are all one piece they will be limitied a great deal more in their range of motion, and will distort the maks as they open.

 

[Honus1]

Thanks!

I was planning on molding a fiberglass support structure- much like ADI did on the AVP Preds. I noticed that they too made the mandibles seperate. What kind of glue do you use to attach the molded mandibles?
Also, how many pulls do you think you can get from a Hydrocal mold?

Thanks again guys!

 

[prof piehead]

apart from the flexibility issue you also have another problem with mask latex when used for animatronics. latex will not compress like foam or displace like say platgel 10 silicone. it will mearly fold on itself when moved and look awful. latex is great for masks and props but not for animatronics. i would suggest brushing the thickness up in silicone then make an underskull from that. an easy way is to use varaform. a thermo plastic that is activated by warm water and comes in sheets. gives results comparable to a fibreglass underskull but without any toxic nastys. [URL="http://www.runlite.com/varaform/index.html"]http://www.runlite.com/varaform/index.html[/URL]
i would also suggest that idf you go the silicone route use smiths deadener and deaden the silicon about 100/ 150 % that gives great results on animatronics.
good luck with your project.

 

[Bovine13]

That stuff looks great.