Acrylic dentures for silicone bust process.

Bill Gerrish

First time going thru this process of sculpting, casting then pouring (brushing actually) silicone into a stone mold. Will paint and hair punch as well. Want a realistic outcome so will use acrylic dentures also but not quite sure of the process. I did the Sculpt with removable clay dentures (shown below). Cast it with no teeth and filled the mouth area to later inset the acrylic dentures. Will place 1" spheres in eye area for eye cavities.

Is this the way it is done? Wondering how to secure the dentures once I make them into a silicone mouth.Tongue has to hide gaps in the back of the throat? 
   Any ideas?
.

Chris Ellerby

Awesome!  The area around the eyes is looking really good on the sculpt. 

When I approach something like this I basically do the same thing you are doing.  Mock up the sculpt with temporary teeth, the cast without them.  After that you can use silicone adhesive on your final piece to insert the dentures.   Hiding the edges is a challenge, and often depends greatly on how the sculpt is designed.   You can patch and fill the edges with more silicone to help hide things, either tinted to match the dentures or tinted to match your skin casting.

One tip is when you mix up the pigment for your skin, mix more than you need and pour it into a separate container.  It'll come in handy when patching your seam lines or blending in extra pieces like teeth.

Can't wait to see your progress on this!

/Chris

Bill Gerrish

Thanks so much, gives me a bit more confidence to charge ahead. It's will be a long process for me. Casting the silicone, foam fill it and painting it needs to be done within a few days once I start. Still no hair to punch though....difficult to locate. But will post when done for sure.

Bill Gerrish

Chris,
On this same sculpt, question about putting fur on. I will hair punch only the last 1.5 inches of the hairline and the rest will be laid on with glue, that will be most of the silicone bust. How do you get the glued on portion to look like it's coming out of the skin and not just laying flat? Is that done with hair product?
Thanks,
Bill

Chris Ellerby

Hi Bill,

If you are using natural hair you can use curling irons to help form it.  Hairspray, gels, or other hair product can also be used if needed. As long as you don't glue too much of the length of the hair down you should be able to get it to lift up a bit.  But it will naturally want to lay a bit flat at first.

Our lesson on laying a fake beard with Lance Anderson covers this process in great detail:
https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/tutorials/special-makeup-effects-tutorial-how-to-make-a-beard

Another option would be to make your own lace wig or lace appliances for the character, which would allow you greater control over the hair.  You can learn more about that process in this course:
https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/tutorials/hair-knotting-101

Thanks,

/Chris