!!! I want to stress that you should always be at least two people when doing a lifecast on someone. Also some might find the experience very claustrofobic and scary, so take care of your model. Explain the process beforehand and never EVER leave the model alone inside a cast while it dries! Also if you yourself is the model, let the sfx artist know if you are worried about anything, don't play brave. Nothings funny about feeling like your suffocating. !!!
And now to the fun!
I started with applying a boldcap to Sara and had her hair stick out because I wanted as normal a head shape as possible. The ponytail was convered. Also I chose to have her ears inside the cap because that is how it will sit once I apply the makeup as the character I designed won't have visible ear/earwholes. You can also leave the ears out should you wish.
After the cap was on I gave her a very lovely plastic bag dress to cover her up and get her shoulders bare. Then made a mark to seperate the font and back piece of the mould. Also rubbed some vaseline on her brows and eyelashes to get them not to stick to the alginate later, and also some on her back. Make sure your model sits comfortably and straight once you start.
I started with the back, laying down plaster bandages in 4x layers to cover the back. and made it a little bit thicker around the edge. The ponytail sticks out here.
Once that dries, put vaseline on the edge where plaster will meet plaster. After I plasted a strip with plaster bandages in 4x strip over her chest. Then it comes down to mixing up a batch with alginate again. I use about 1500g for this and enough water to get the right consistency. Aglinate only have about 4min working time, so work fast. I like to start applying it around the nose and mouth first so is case the model panics she can still see and hear fine. So I asked Sara to breathe in and hold it while I put alginate over her nose, then asked her to blow out of her nose hard and cleaned up around her nostrils. making sure she could breathe fine the rest was applied. Always have a person to make sure the models airways are open till the alginate dries completely.
When the alginate was dried it was just to cover ut up with plaster bandages in layers of 4.
It was about 15 min or so for everything to be dry enough to be taken off. Start with the front and gently work the front and back apart and then take off the front. Should be pretty easy. A good tip is also to have your model close here eyes as it might be very bright after having your eyes closed in the dark for that long. Then take the back off. This might sting a bit as the plaster sticks a bit to the skin. (of you have a hairy back, consider yourself now waxed).
To fill the lifecast you first put some paster to cover up the wholes for the nose and ponytail, then fill in the nostrils with some alginate. I use dental alginate here because is dries faster. Coat the inside where it's plaster like the back part with vaseline so the plaster won't stick together. Then it just to put the two parts together and start filling.
The mould should be hollow, so start with a splash coat of plaster first to get all the detail. When that has almost dried, fill the mould with fiberglass mats that you coat in plaster. Build this up in two layers and then just use plaster to build up the tickness to about 2-3cm.
After about a day or two you can upen the mould and there you go. A "replica" plaster head! ^^
Where to get the materials used in Norway:
Wilh. Willumsen, 97 10 21 20 , www.willumsen.no
- Alginate
- plaster bandages
- they also sell some plaster
Wald. Ellefsen, 22 74 32 32, www.we.no
- different types of plaster
And as always if you have any questions, or if anything of this was unclear, I will be happy to answer them :)
- Karin Olava
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