Advice for Pigmenting Dragonskin FX for three-breasted prosthetic (no pic, SFW)

[detenten]

My specific question for this thread is to get some advice on pigmenting DragonSkin FX. I have pigmented Dragonskin medium, fast, and slow in the past, but it'll be my first time with this flavor of Dskin. I also haven't attempted to match a flesh tone before, and it's my first time attempting a gel filled appliance using Slacker. I'd imagine the first layer of silicone is critical in color, but given the translucent nature and how thin that first layer is, I'd assume the color of the slacker filling will be critical, too.

I chose not to spring for the supplies for the PsychoPaint system. I have the Silic-Pig multipack, which does include Fleshtone.

Details of my project plan:

I'll refrain from posting my reference image to keep the thread SFW! I'm gunning for the original three-breasted prostitute from Total Recall.

My current plan is to lifecast my own bust with Body Double and a plaster jacket, and first making a resin cast to work off of (I have a big jug of white resin that is creeping past its shelf life that I wish to put to any use, otherwise I would just use plaster).
I hope Monster Clay is as "meltable and pourable" as they claim, as I'll then try to make a copy of lefty (I think that's my bigger one) and smack it onto the resin bust, blend some clay edges, then have my "original sculpt" of a three-breasted chest. From that, I’ll make a new brush-on mold (Rebound 40 probably, I have better luck with a silicone with a different durometer/hardness to release more easily with Release Spray) and new mother (from collarbone to navel).

Then I am looking to make a Dragonskin FX prosthetic with a slacker-filled middle breast. The prosthetic will be of all three breasts, my actual boobs will be covered by a thin layer of, well, my boobs-- mostly to avoid having to deal with much seam-blending (the seams will be covered by the open blouse and the high-waisted pencil skirt she wears), and just adhering it with SkinTite.

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

Smooth On's Silc Pigs are relatively alright for getting skin tones, but I'd look into Silicone Art Materials for your flesh tone pigment. They have the best selection I've ever used.

As for finding the correct color of the breast, a good trick is to put pressure on it with your finger for a few seconds. It will temporarily remove the red from your skin, and the color you see will be your base tone. You can get to this color using only a drop of white pigment, flesh tone. and various colors of Flocking. Pigment both A and B at the same time to insure no changes in color when you mix. I typically do a drop or two of white pigment to add to the opacity, followed by a drop or two of flesh tone pigment. Then I pigment the base tone further with flocking. A lighter flesh tone, very small amounts of blue, green, and yellow, and to top it off just a smidge of red. Don't go too red heavy, you can add the warmth in with paint after application.

You want to sneak up on the color, so use them in very small increments. You also want to make sure you don't go too transparent or it can look a bit wax-y. A good trick for this is to put a dot on your stir stick with sharpie, and pick up some material every so often. You should just barely be able to see the dot on the stick.

Here are SAM pigments: http://www.alconeco.com/silicone-art-materials-hd-silicone-pigments

Flocking: http://www.theengineerguy.com/Flocking_2.html?sc=10&category=39244

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

Good luck on the project! It sounds like it'll work out. From personal experience, I've never been able to work with silicone very well because it always got too heavy for me to apply it to anything. If that's any form of advice, I say keep it light as possible.

 

[detenten]

Oh wow, this is a forum reply of dreams! Thank you, this is absolutely fantastic advice. I had no idea about flocking, absolutely fascinating. I'll check into the other pigments as well!

- - - Updated - - -

I'll admit, I am concerned about the weight, but intend to try anyway. I'm convincing myself that the huge surface area it'll have to adhere to will take care of it... Otherwise I'll make myself a very interesting bra...

 

[detenten]

I wonder if there's an additive I can mix in with the gel filling that would lighten it up and still give the volume... I'm thinking like this:

Ure-Fil 15
micro-balloons that can be added to Smooth-On urethane plastics and epoxies to create very lightweight castings.

It's supposed to be a resin additive, but I'm actually curious if it would mess up a slackered silicone filling. Could it? It's encapsulated by full cure membranes anyway...

 

[detenten]

Flocking: http://www.theengineerguy.com/Flocking_2.html?sc=10&category=39244

Just ordered 5 colors of flocking... I did not know about this webstore. This is why I'm about to be broke. I had to delete stuff I didn't "need" to bring my cart down from my wishful collection of $300.... This one is awesome, thanks for sharing!

 

[Sinned]

Here are SAM pigments: http://www.alconeco.com/silicone-art-materials-hd-silicone-pigments

Flocking: http://www.theengineerguy.com/Flocking_2.html?sc=10&category=39244

I hate you, and love you, for posting those links.

Great tips too! I'm getting ready to do a silicone project as well, to build a scalp. I've picked up a bunch of flocking already, and was just starting to research how to best tint the silicone. I have some of the Silc Pig tints, but even with the fleshtone, it wasn't looking like quite what I want.

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

I am not sure about how Ure-Fil would react to Silicone. I'd suggest talking to a Reynolds materials specialists about it.

I'm also not sure how advanced your skills are, but you could core the piece out to make a thin silicone skin and back it with Soama Foama. It's a platinum silicone foam which is very light and relatively light weight.

Trust me, I know how you feel about The Engineer Guy! When I was working in Atlanta I think I stopped there like twice a day!

 

[detenten]

Made my body double mold and plaster mother last night. It was my first time doing a lifecast, and husband's first time doing anything with silicone. I'm proud of him for seeing it through! Only a few bubbles or missed folds here and there, which I'll be able to sand out or fix after doing a casting.

I might have to re-try making the mother. The bottom of the breasts are sitting oddly, which is a bit confusing. I might have started wiggling by that phase. Since it's only the front of my torso, I should be able to lay the silicone back on my body and re-try the plaster.

I'll slush cast a copy with SmoothCast 325 tonight, and hopefully also melt my Monster Clay in the crockpot and pour that tonight. I assume it'll take a while to cool off and solidify, so I'm planning to try my "sculpt" Wednesday. Party is February 14th, no time to lose!!


I'm extremely tempted to spring for silicone foam to fill it in.

***American Horror Story: Freak Show Spoilers***

I read an interview (oddly enough in Cosmo; first time I can say I was reading THAT!) with the actress on American Horror story about her experiences with the 3 breasted prosthetic. Although there's no technical details, I can gather that a solid silicone one is going to be too heavy after all-- and I'm definitely not as skilled as the artists working for that show!

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/enterta...t-american-horror-story-freak-show-interview/

The first incarnation they came up with was very heavy. Maybe this is what people who augment go through. Do I want to get silicone or do I want whatever the other option is? But the first incarnation was very heavy and uncomfortable and, gravity doing what gravity does, it would come apart, it would sag, it would itch. We have it so rough, women with boobs. But they worked on it a little bit more and made them out of another material that's much lighter and then of course the next thing is, after you put it on, it's never the proper color. So it takes about an hour to apply it and then to match it to my own skin tone. It's got to be more yellow, more green, more red, more this … they're magicians though.

What you saw [in episode two] was the one that was heavy and uncomfortable and I thought, Oh my god, this is just going to be a terrible year. I wish I were the bearded lady, if this is what I'm gonna go through.

 

[detenten]

Soma Foama 15 is "ugh" expensive!

Would flexible polyurethane foam, like FlexFoam-iT!® V, cause cure inhibition on the DragonSkin silicone?
Do you think that would work as a suitable, lower-cost light-weight filler?

Or, for the price difference, it might be better to just spring for Soma Foama 25?

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

When backing the piece with foam, Soama or Flexfoam-IT, you'd want your silicone skin to be cured before you add the foam.. The foams expand, and if your skin of silicone isn't cured it will actually push right through the silicone to the surface of your mold.
The silicone can't be inhibited from the foam once it's cured. Does that make sense? I suck at explanations.

Again, I'd suggest talking with your local Reynolds or Smooth-on materials specialist, but it should work fine.

 

[detenten]

I went for Soma Foama 25 anyway, better price than 15!

I'm in final phases now. After adding the slacker layer, I'm not 100% sure it'll come out well, the inner skin had wrinkles, and I had to go back in and brush another later to try and glue them together entirely. Going to finish and see what pulls out tomorrow!

Been experimenting with the foam... Neat stuff. At first I thought I'd mixed wrong. It just wasn't the dramatic reaction I was expecting (I guess I had in mind a baking soda and vinegar volcano). Will definitely save on tons of weight, excellent idea, thank you!

 

[detenten]

I made a second prosthetic entirely. The slacker gel filled concept is very cool, but not good for this project. It made them too heavy, and actually looks and feels more like dead drowned flesh, eek!

Second casting was just a brushed on layer of Dragonskin fx, back filled with soma Foama. The middle breast is super firm, but looks and reads well. I'm going to revisit and do a new sculpt, though.

The appliance adhered amazingly with Skin Tite. I was really impressed at how quickly and easy it was to mix, spread, and then just slap the appliance on. Smoothing down a few edges and I was good to go, it held on very comfortably with no need for touch ups for over 6 hours. I dusted it with some powder to help with the shiny nature of silicone. This was surprisingly one of the most confortable and quick to put on costumes I've ever made! It peeled right off at the end of the night, absolutely no pain and leaving no residue! No damage to the appliance, either. I expected it to tear in some very thin places, but the glue seems to have just given it another layer of silicone thickness.

I received several compliments on blending the edges, which I revealed that I didn't! All edges were hidden under a blouse, undebust corset and thick necklace. People got a kick out of it!

Thanks for the help in this forum!