Tim Gore Prop Head - Help please

Hayley Tracey

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking for a little help from you. I'm quite new to this and this is my first ever full head sculpt that I've made so that I can use it when following Tim Gores prop head tutorial. I'm now scared to go further as I'm not sure how I should cast it? I've searched but cannot find a relating tutorial to casting prop heads. In Tim's tutorial he has made a cast of blue silicone - its looks like the silicone I have called Key 22. I'm guessing he's hot glued shim as a wall and poured the silicone in. Would that be the best way to do this? I'm so scared of loosing my sculpt if it goes wrong

Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

Many thanks

Hayley 

Kai Rottmann

Hey Hayley :-)
Thats a nice sculpture ;-)

Are you going to cast resin in your mold? I think it should be the best way to make a one- part Silicone mold, when the sculpture isnt really big.

Build up a wooden mold box, which is 4-5 cm away from your sculpture. (in height, too) 

Hotglue the sculpture on the table, seal it with a mist of crystal clear (let it dry) and brush on a detail layer of silicone all over your sculpt. (Make sure to get all the details and wrinkles without airbubbles)

Then screw- and hotglue (your silicone shouldnt flow out of any gaps) the moldbox in place and fill the box with your -preferably- bubble-free silicone and let it set. 

Once its set, open the moldbox and slice a 90 °-wiggly- cut from the neck to the top of the head through the silicone and pull your sculpture out.
 
Clean out the silicone mold and lay it into your moldbox (the moldbox supports the silicone to be stable) and make sure, that your sliced cut is closing completely and in the correct way. (You shoulnt see a gap between the sliced- edges).

Its ready for slush- cast a resin head now ;-)

That is the easyiest way to make a mold and i have done my first molds that way, too. (Okay, the supportshell (in your case its your moldbox) was a two- part fiberglass shell, because the sculpture was big)

There are a few ways to save silicone (i know that silicone is expensive :-(  ) but to build such molds is more complex and time consuming. (And perhaps you need another expensive materials xD)

Greets

Kai

Hayley Tracey

Thank you so much for your help, Kai. I followed your instructions and here's my end result. I'm very proud of it and hopefully it will help me secure a good grade in my degree  

many thank again xxx

Kai Rottmann

I am glad, that this worked for you, too ;-)

It turned out very nice, good work ;-)

Greets