Hi everyone. I've been having a ball working my way through my process. I'm still waiting on my acrylic powders to arrive, so I'm only up the moulding of my sculptures, but I thought I should upload what I have, and see what you all think.
I don't know how much to put up here, so I'll post the images I have. I'm sorry if there's a lot to go through.
Then I made the plaster base with the keys and attached it to my Alginate moulds. It needed some cleaning up and could have been thicker in the base (where the keys are) but functional.
I then made the moulds of the master set. I don't have a degassing chamber so I used 1:1 ratio quick setting silicone. (Says it doesn't need degassing)
Then I made my vacuum forming machine. Very LOW TECH... vacuum and a heat gun, but it works just fine. The image below doesn't show the steal plate that sits on top (with the holes in it), but I'm really proud of this. Just had to include the picture here, and say a big THANK YOU to SWSCA and to FON DAVIS for providing the information that has enabled me to do such a thing. I used to use a large industrial vacuum form machine at UNI and since graduating, I have sorely missed the machine. Now, I find myself chuckling and drumming my fingers together with anticipation of all the awesome-ness that I am now able to bestow on the world, now that I have my very own machine.
I did have a problem with condensation inside the plastic. Did anyone else get this? Is this a common problem? I powdered my plaster teeth before vacuforming and everything. It didn't really effect the end result though so... hmm.
Also, on a side note re: character... I have a particular character that I will be using these techniques on but my model wasn't available until a week or so AFTER the 20th. So maybe I'll post pics when that character is complete on the forum later. But with this set of teeth, I asked my husband to model for me and when I asked him what he wanted to play the part of... he snarled. So... here we have K9 influences, with a little Tasmanian Devil and Vampire Bat. Oh, and of course human.
They fit together pretty nicely. I really hope they are comfortable! I was a little concerned with the bottom teeth. But we will just have to see.
I've run my moulds of these with the acrylic reservoir channels but I ran out of Pinkysil. So I am using a 24hr set silicone... so I can't see how they turned out just yet. I'll post more pics when I have them.
Again, any comments/suggestions/criticisms are welcome. That's how I learn.
Cheers guys. I hope everyone is having as much fun as me!
I did forget to explain my process for the sculpt. So thank you for reminding me!
I used Monster Clay to sculpt with as I always keep it handy. I also used Lighter Fluid to smooth out my sculpt. This often makes the finished product look a little fuzzy and hard to see the creases and crevices. So I then added the baby powder like John did. I've never done that before and was really surprised at how many little imperfections my eye missed with the lighter fluid. Although the finished result looked a lot more refined when using both together, in my opinion, as I tried both just lighter fluid and just the baby powder.
As far as the condensation goes, I believe it was because I was using the warmed up monster clay and I was sculpting in winter, so the room temperature was quite cold. I just wasn't sure if it would create problems with the silicone poor I did over the sculpt. Time will tell!
It looks great Rosanna. I wish I had the those sculpt tools when I started. I finally found the same tools you posted. I think those would have saved me a lot of time. An exacto knife and a knitting tool were all I had for the sculpt lol. I look forward to seeing your final.
Ron, if you can manage to sculpt with the items at hand, then it just makes you more versatile. But I have to say, with the right tools, you can do anything. I have been known to use a paddle pop stick cut to different sizes when in desperate need. If it works it works.
I'm also looking forward to seeing everyone's final teeth.
I didn't tint the acrylic or anything the first time. Mainly because it was the tooth shade and I figured it would be fine as is. But as it turned out, the acrylic was more translucent than I wanted. Probably fine if you were making dentures, but when the actors teeth can be seen through the acrylic, probably time to re-do.
So, I redid the poor. This time adding a white eyeshadow to the mix. Not knowing how much of the powder to add, I went a little too far. I ended up with a heavily opaque cast.
Also, I made a silly mistake by using one of my white shadows that had a soft pink tint to it. As it turned out, the poor came out substandard anyway.. Many bubbles.
3rd times the charm... I used a white eyeshadow with a slight yellow metallic tint. And this time, I used less shadow pigment. I contemplated using corn flower to give a solid white look, but decided to go with the eyeshadow, just to see how it would go.
Comments
I don't know how much to put up here, so I'll post the images I have. I'm sorry if there's a lot to go through.
Any feedback would be welcomed!
These are the materials I sourced in Australia.
It needed some cleaning up and could have been thicker in the base (where the keys are) but functional.
I've run my moulds of these with the acrylic reservoir channels but I ran out of Pinkysil. So I am using a 24hr set silicone... so I can't see how they turned out just yet. I'll post more pics when I have them.
Again, any comments/suggestions/criticisms are welcome. That's how I learn.
Cheers guys. I hope everyone is having as much fun as me!
It looks great, Rosanna, your sculpture especially. Can I ask what kind of sculpture tools you use?
I didn't have the condensation in my plastic, I'm not sure what would cause that other than a temperature change.
Thank you.
I did forget to explain my process for the sculpt. So thank you for reminding me!
I used Monster Clay to sculpt with as I always keep it handy. I also used Lighter Fluid to smooth out my sculpt. This often makes the finished product look a little fuzzy and hard to see the creases and crevices. So I then added the baby powder like John did. I've never done that before and was really surprised at how many little imperfections my eye missed with the lighter fluid. Although the finished result looked a lot more refined when using both together, in my opinion, as I tried both just lighter fluid and just the baby powder.
Here are the tools I used:
Ron, if you can manage to sculpt with the items at hand, then it just makes you more versatile.
I'm also looking forward to seeing everyone's final teeth.
First up... products.
Tooth colour: Nic Tone - A3 - monomer powder.
Gum Colour: Enigma Colour - Natural Pink - monomer powder.
Clear: Nic Tone - Clear - monomer powder.
Polymer: Lang Self Curing Denture Acrylic Liquid.
PVA: Only could buy green.
PVA Time!
Also, I made a silly mistake by using one of my white shadows that had a soft pink tint to it. As it turned out, the poor came out substandard anyway.. Many bubbles.