Help Creating Prosthetic

Amanda@CIMCStudios.com

Hi. I am creating a Grinch latex prosthetic and this is only the second time in my life ever creating a prosthetic. The client's budget is very low so I made my face cast out of Plaster of Paris. With clay, I sculpted my prosthetic and now I need to make a mold. I have a few questions: (1) The prosthetic is only on half the face. Do I make a mold of the entire face or only half? (2) If I make a mold of only half the face, how do I create the barrier to do that? (3) I was planning to use Plaster of Paris for the mold but I need to pull 18 latex prosthetics from it. Would that be possible? (4) For the parts of the face that will not have prosthetics (like the eyes), do they need to have a thin layer of clay on them or should I put petroleum jelly down to ensure plaster doesn't stick to plaster? 

Again, I am very new to creating prosthetics. I have used them plenty throughout my Special Effects Makeup life but this project requires that I make one. I want to do a great job and continue growing my skills but I'm a little lost on how to proceed after the sculpture of the prosthetic has been made. Any advice is appreciated. 

Chris Ellerby

Hi Amanda,

You can mold just the part of the face that has your sculpt, with enough room around the piece for a blending edge.  You would do this by laying the head down and making a clay wall around your piece.  The surface of the plaster bust would then be released with something like petroleum jelly as you suggested.  

I'm not sure how many castings you could get out of regular plaster of Paris.  That can depend heavily on how the plaster is mixed/cured and how it's handled.  I would recommend something like Ultracal 30 if you can find it, as it's a bit more durable. 

You may want to try and save the original sculpt when you mold it (possibly with some krylon crystal clear spray on top and some additional release) so you could make a second mold if needed.   It may take some damage but hopefully you can re-sculpt any lost detail back into it.

This lesson has some great tips on molding prosthetics:
https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/tutorials/character-makeup-sculpture-breakdown-mold-making

Best of luck!

/Chris