whats the difference between foam latex and gelatine prosthetics?

bryanortizbow

Could I use the same paint material, adhesive, on either?

I bought the 'Perfect pallet 1.0' and  ProAdhesive from Nimbacreations and one of his prosthetic pieces.

But I also bought these 2 other Foam Latex prosthetics from another seller. So I was wondering if i need to buy another paint and adhesive for the foam latex material. 

Chris Ellerby

The difference between the materials pretty significant, but many of the same makeup techniques can be applied to both materials. 

Foam Latex:

1. More complicated to mix and cast prosthetic
2. Lighter weight
3. More stretch/movement
4. Opaque
5. Not sensitive to heat
6. Often requires using cabo-patch/bondo/thickened prosthetic adhesive to blend edges

Gelatin:

1. Inexpensive
   
2. Easy to melt and pour up prosthetics
3. Heavier
4. Not as much movement
5. Translucent (good bonus)
6. Sensitive to heat
7. Easier to blend ("melt") edges into skin

Nimba Creations' "Perfect Pallet" is a cream makeup, so it would work well on both foam and gelatin.   Foam latex I would seal with a layer of PAX paint prior to adding makeup. For gelatin I would not use PAX paint if the gelatin is already skin tone, as the PAX would block the natural translucency of the gelatin, which is one of the reasons to use gelatin.  It should be noted that gelatin is not used super often in the effects industry (though it is used) as larger budgets allow for the use of materials like silicone, but gelatin does have sone nice features.  VERY low cost to produce, blending edges can easily be dissolved into the skin to great effect, and it has good translucency.  It's a fantastic material to start out with, as you can do more makeups per dollar, which is great for building experience.

Both can be painted with cream makeups.  Both are also great with acrylic/alcohol activated makes like Skin Illustrator, which is fantastic for light washes or building up colors. 

The adhesive for the gelatin (which is likely a pros-aide) will work fine on foam latex.

Nimba Creations makes great stuff, I've enjoyed their application videos over the years.

/Chris

Kapetan makeup

I would always make Pax paint, which is about a mix of 30% acrylic paint and 70% of Pros-aide . A key point is always start with lighter color and you can go darker from there. After the layer of Pax is applied you can use acrylic paints or other products because it will stick to the Pax.