What to use to mold a mask?

[kraymitchell]

I'm working on a V costume and I've gone through the process of moulding my face and now have the cast. I'm very new to this. I've never created anything like this before.

What do you guys recommend for actually creating the mask? I'll want to do a small layer first and make sure it fits my face properly before I spend a bunch of time adding a bunch of detail.

Is there something I can mold with my hands that will harden after?
Or will I have to do the sculpting and then have a mask made another way?

Any/all help and advice is appreciated!

 

[TinyTim]

Hey Mitch!

I had a similar need for a set of gauntlets, and a friend of mine threw me a really simple setup:
Plaster Wrap
Link

Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline)
A bowl of water
and about 20-30 minutes



For your scenario: I'd suggest setting up a mirror and doing this mostly on your back/ head laying back but your execution is up to you.

Cut a few strips to the lengths you feel you need, test lay them out for this DRY. once you feel you have enough, cut out an extra 6 (qty) 3-4: lengths to use as added strengthening as needed/desired

lay everything out and lather yourself up with the jelly.

dip the plaster into the water, and begin applying it in however manner you see fit

when you finish applying the plaster, wait about 10 minutes and then you can start to carefully peel off the plaster

this plaster may be fabric reinforced but it is crazy fragile all the same.

peel off carefully and lay out to dry ~2hrs @ 70 degrees Fahrenheit
start to finish, this took me 30 minutes. and for me not moving my dominant hand for 30 mins was a nightmare...

but I have a kickass gauntlet positive (unfortunately I don't have the most updated picture, I'll upload that when I'm home again.)



I would not recommend "squeezing out" the excess water, at least not from the Michael's brand plaster wrap. This dried it out far too much for me as you may be able to see in the 2nd pic. This is also requiring me to Bondo the inside... YAY! more practice with unknown materials and processes!!!

so yeah... quick, cheap, admittedly dirty... make sure to wax/lube/seal the carp out of your eyebrows, should you go that high...

Last thing to note is that this only effectively works for ONE-SIDED lifecasts...

P.S. If you would like to see how this stuff works when handled check out Tested.com's video. they start work about 9.45

Hope this Helped!
TinyTim

 

[kraymitchell]

Thanks Tim,
However, I think you misunderstood my post. I already have the cast of my face done, I am now looking at actually creating the mask itself.

Plaster of any kind won't cut it for sure, I want this thing to last.

That said, I found out about Sculpty Firm yesterday which sounds like exactly what I'm looking for. But now I need to know how to mold that to the cast of my face and still be able to get it off easily to put in the oven! I still have some of the releasing agent from when I did my face mold, but not sure if it's enough to do it with the cast. Would vaseline work?

 

[pitchforknumb]

If you go the sculpey route, I don't think you'll be able to get it off of your core easily enough to not distort your mask. Depending on what your core is made out of, you may be able to put the entire thing in the oven. Or you could use and oil based, or water based clay, sculpt your mask, and then make a mold of that with silicone and back it up with plaster bandages, or fiberglass, or epoxy, or shell shock........ and then you can cast your mask in urethane resin. I usually add at least a 1/4" of clay to the core for a half mask to make sure there's plenty of room for the real face.

Edit:
Here's a link to my flickr page that shows how I molded my Gaster half mask.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/137794557@N03/page2

 

[kraymitchell]

I used the Smooth-On product (Liquid to plastic) so I'm pretty sure it can't go in the oven.
Perhaps if I layered the cast in saran wrap and sprayed it down with some Pam before I molded the clay?
Might be a little slick to start, but then I could start with a thinner base layer, get that off, bake it in the oven, then build the rest of the mask on top?

Just spitballing...

Your work is amazing BTW!

 

[pitchforknumb]

Ok, I'm trying to figure out what you're saying here. You wan't to start off with a thin layer of clay over your core, and then bake that and start building more of your clay on that? Are you trying to go the route of not molding your scupture, but bake the sculpey and use that as your finished piece?
Thanks for the compliment man.

 

[kraymitchell]

Kind of. I'm just figuring that might make it easier.

If I use the saran-wrap/pam and a thin(ish) layer of clay, then I can easily get it off the cast (thanks to the saran/pam combo), and bake it. That way I can take the baked portion, put it back on the cast and not have to worry about it 1) sliding around while I'm trying to sculpt and 2) not sticking to the cast.

Then I can just build and sculpt the actual mask (V for Vendetta) on top of that thin layer (Wrapping around the edges) and then bake it all together when finished.

Or am I totally crazy and there is no way that's going to work? LOL. Always a possibility!

 

[pitchforknumb]

Ok, I see what you're trying to do. I see two problems going this route. 1 is that thin layer of clay you want to take off the core will be very hard to handle without warping. Even with the saran wrap and pam you create a sort of vacuum when you put the clay on. The second problem is if you're not going to be molding the mask having a hard mask that forms perfectly to your face will be very hard to get on, and very uncomfortable, and will make it so you can't open your mouth. So if you're not molding it I would built up that 1/4" to 1/2" thickness and then you'll have to do some sanding on the inside to make it so you have some wiggle room for your face.

 

[kraymitchell]

I had anticipated some sanding on the inside for a better fit, but as it is my face I'll be sculpting in, it will have to be a better fit than any of the store bought ones LOL I've been through 5 of them, 2 REALLY crappy light plastic, and the rest were hard resin, well made, but I'm huge and they didn't cover my face properly LOL

I guess I'll have to go with the saran wrap and full sculpting. Hopefully once I get the base layer on it won't move around much. I'll just have to be careful as I work I guess!

Thanks for the tips! Can't wait to get my Sculpty and tools and get started.

 

[NextGenMaker]

This may sound silly, but perhaps you could try papier mache with tissue paper, modge podge, and a blow drier? It's very forgiving, light, and cheap, plus no casting. Once you've got something you like, you could hard-coat it with resin and finish that surface smooth for painting. It'd be like a poor-man's composite, though I do not know how well resin will cling to a papier mache surface.

This may require the addition of clay to the lifecast to bulk out the negative space inside the mask.