Basket Case (1982) Costume! Making a latex creature, need advice....

spraynard

New Member
Hi! New member here, just stumbled across this place. I started on a pretty "advanced" Halloween costume (by my standards). Hoping I could get some advice from the experts out there......

The costume is based on the movie Basket Case(1982). For those who haven't seen it, it is an extremely campy "bad" horror movie about a guy who carries around his detached siamese twin, Belial, in a basket. Anyways, Belial is a twisted little ball of face, flesh, and arms and squirms around killing people. It's delightfully terrible. Google image search to get an idea of what Belial looks like belial basket case - Google Search

So my idea for the costume is to make my own Belial and put him in a wicker basket. The basket will be rigged so that, when opened, Belial will appear to jump out.

I want to make Belial as cool as possible--no paper mache here. My basic plan is to sculpt him with modeling clay, make a plaster mold, and then slush cast him with latex. Once the latex sets, I will stuff him with cotton or something and paint.

I've never done anything like this before, so I'm not sure what I plan on doing will work, things I should prepare for, if I have enough materials, etc.

Here's where the sculpt is at right now. It will give you an idea of how big he is going to be (there is a ruler in the back)....

imgur: the simple image sharer

My working plan-- (1)finish sculpting. I am using van Aken modeling clay. I am going to sculpt each of the hands separate from the body. (2) smooth out clay with vaseline, also to act as a mold release. (3) create two part molds of each body, and hands. I have 32 Lbs of Pottery Plaster # 1. Is this enough? (4) Clean out clay from molds (5) slush cast with liquid latex. I have 2 pints of 407 Liquid casting latex. Is this enough? (6) remove cast, stuff hands and body, attach by "gluing" with more liquid latex. (7) Brush paint with rubber cement, tinted with acrylic paint. Is this okay? I read it somewhere on the internet. I don't have access to an airbrush, so that's out of the question.

I appreciate any tips, advice, or encouragement in advance. Thanks!
 
I would use some burlap strips layered in between the plaster coats to reinforce your mold. Also for the "rub-out" paint (rubber cement paint), use oil paints for the pigment and mineral spirits to thin it down. you could also take some of your mask latex, thin it a bit with some distilled water and add craft store acrylic paints for pigment.

If you wanted to spend a little money, you could foam fill the piece with a soft foam.
There are various companies to get that from, monstermakers would be one of them.

Just watch for undercuts in your sculpt so you don't end up with mold lock. I'm sure others may chime in with more tips. Good luck!
 
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