Sculpting and then casting in latex.. how?

[hydin]

I have a side project going that I have been thinking about for a week or two, and I think it will work out nicely if I can cast part of it in latex.

It's an "armored glove", with some highlights on the fingers and back, but not all over the glove. Sort of like the Davros hand in the other thread except instead of an entire hand being made, just top portions.

I have the base glove (literal glove) that I am going to use for it and sculpt on, but the "Armor parts" I need to sculpt up and then mold/cast.

What is the best way of doing this? Fast and dirty is fine, it's just for shelf fodder. The supplies I have right now are the glove, klean klay, plaster, and mold maker latex in a bottle.

The armor/sculpted areas will be raised around the knuckles, and sections on the tops of the fingers and fingertips, and the back area of the hand will have a little design bit done sort of like Kroenens hand from Hellboy (not clockwork but steampunky).

I thought latex would be the way to go since this is not really a detailed piece, but just addons to the glove itself that I plan to glue down. I would like the "armor" to bend over the fingertips though, so I am at a bit of a loss on how to swing this.

Ideas are appreciated

Chris

 

[Darth Lars]

I could write how I would attempt doing it, but I think that you should be able to find several better tutorials for latex casting on the using Google. These would help you get started.

This week, I have started sculpting in a totally different material: Bake'n Bend Sculpey. It does not take as much effort to create a single rubber item, but there are a few drawbacks. The result is more brittle than latex. The clay is also more sticky than other polymer clays. Most of all though, whatever you build your sculpt on has to survive baking.

As with all polymer clays, you can blend different types with different characteristics, so that parts of your sculpt could be harder - and thus easier to paint.
You can cure it only partially, cut/dril/sand it, apply more clay (as a type of putty - even the bake'n bend) and bake again.