Recently, a letter came to my mail with a question: how to make a silicone face mold at home with your own hands. And in order not to postpone the answer indefinitely, I decided to describe in detail the process of taking a cast from a person's nature, and more specifically from a face. In a similar way, you can take an impression from any part of the human body: arms, legs, priests, chest, back, etc.

Naturally, you need to buy the necessary materials for work:

- two-component silicone, which will be safe for human skin. For example, silicone mass for impressions Body Double "Standard Set" and Body Double "Fast Set" is good in this quality. These are fairly tough platinum-based silicones that are applied to areas of the skin to create shapes from the face, hands, or other body parts. Molds made of these materials are intended for repeated pouring of gypsum, wax, low-melting metals, polyurethane plastics, epoxy or polyester resins, etc. These silicones are non-flowing, so they are easy to apply with a regular brush, and harden very quickly. With this silicone, you can make an impression of your face, and then cast a plaster or plastic cast over it.

- a separating cream-lubricant for the face. It is necessary so that the finished rubber impression is easily separated from the skin.

- a bandage and a 2 kg pack of gypsum - to create a strong substrate for a silicone impression.

- the brushes are thick and thin.

To begin with, the face must be lubricated with a separating cream so that the silicone mass then easily separates from the skin of the face and accidentally trapped hair also does not remain in the mask.

Then the two-component silicone is diluted according to the instructions, and the brush is applied to the skin. Surprisingly, when solidifying, the silicone mass exactly repeats all the nuances of the face: the smallest pores, scars, hair growing on the face, etc. Near the nostrils, it is advisable to apply the silicone mass for taking impressions with a thin brush so that the holes of the nostrils are even.

When the silicone adheres, it is necessary to spread the bandage cut into pieces evenly over the entire mask and apply gypsum, diluted to thickening sour cream. It is advisable to apply several layers of plaster to ensure that the impression substrate is strong.

When the plaster has completely hardened, and this will come in about 20 minutes, the substrate is carefully removed, and then the finished cast of the face is removed.

Further, using the obtained silicone face and the manufactured plaster substrate, the resulting face can be cast from plaster, plastic, plastic and other materials. To do this, first, the substrate is installed on the table, a ready-made silicone impression is placed in it, and gypsum, plastic, wax and other materials are poured into the resulting mold. And only then the resulting sample of the finished face can be painted with any acrylic paints.

What it gives:

• significant savings in expensive material - silicone
• you coat all the hidden recesses, thus avoiding defects in the shape due to air bubbles
• no shrinkage of the mold due to layering
• increase in form strength again due to layering

Stages of work:

1. Modeling of products from sculptural plasticine. We use a mock-up of the head, and on top we apply sculptural plasticine.
2. The model is coated with silicone for application with a copy-paste brush -
   (it has a special additive that allows silicone not to drain from vertical surfaces, and it also hardens very quickly).
3. A rigid framework is then made that supports this thin silicone shape and prevents bursting. A rigid frame is most often made from 1) plaster with bandages or 2) construction foam from a spray can. A stretch film is placed between the silicone and the frame to facilitate removal!
4. It is poured measured by the ratio, circular movements are made to distribute it along the walls, solidification occurs within two minutes. We stand for another 30 minutes in the form until it cools completely and hardens, if necessary, we grind, prime, paint, make a soft face pad.

Important points!

The silicone for spreading Kopipasta is very thick. To liquefy it (which, by the way, is not done in the video!), Part A of the silicone must be intensively stirred for 10 minutes before mixing with the hardener and then allowed to stand for air to escape. Then the silicone becomes fluid! then add the hardener. Knead a little bit, evenly on a layer, as it hardens quickly!

Liquid plastic of this series can be mixed by volume 1: 1. It is very comfortable. Setting time 2 minutes. In the form it is necessary to withstand until completely solidified, so that there is no deformation of the mask. While warm it bends easily and can change shape!

Making a mask out of EasyFlo model plastic

Hello zezhists and accomplices :)!

As a beginner in the community, I bring to your judgment a post about how masks were made in the project "Just the same" on Channel One. The essence of the show is to sing a song of a famous artist in the most similar voice and in the most similar way. And if the first depends entirely on the performing artist, the second is the fruit of the labor of dozens of people, including plastic make-up artists.

In general, I have the process of preparing images in my LJ, but here I would like to delve into the technology of making a mask that corrects the shape of the face, on which the usual makeup, a wig and, finally, a costume are then applied.

You will find out about how many receptions a silicone mask is poured into, why you need to wrap the artist in black polyethylene, what horror-horror-horror looks like, and who needs it all

First of all, we get to know the guys from the workshop located at Mosfilm. It all looks like a mad puppeteer museum, and the first exhibits meet us at the entrance.

In principle, the exhibits at the entrance can be viewed for a long time, but I will show you a couple of photographs and we will move to the workshop, because they are already waiting for us there.

And they are waiting for us at the ready with black bags, plaster and silicone. Because the first thing to do is take an impression of the face and make a mold for filling the masks. Fourteen programs are filmed in a season, respectively, during this time specialists need to make 14 masks. Fortunately, the cast is removed only once. The cast was filmed in February, and I didn’t know yet that Renas, the man putting the rubber cap on me, would not only mold me to Sting at the end of the season, but also star in my summer video, which will be presented this Thursday;)

So the topic of black packages is revealed. And now a special VERY COLD silicone-based composition is poured onto the face so that the cast accurately repeats the shape of the face. The thing is so cold that you have to make an effort not to start chattering your teeth.

Plaster is then applied to the mold so as not to damage the silicone layer. Half an hour, while this whole structure dries, you can neither move, nor talk and "breathe neatly too", as the magicians of plastic makeup advised me. I tried to do everything very carefully, so as not to repeat the procedure a second time.

As a result, a special polymer is poured into the resulting workpiece, which after hardening and extraction (and this happens a couple of days after taking the impression) looks like this. Looks like it?

Against the background is a working board with photographs of all the project participants and someone's mask left over from the filming of the last program.
Well, half the battle is done, but the most interesting is yet to come. Here's another exhibit, this time a hobby of one of the studio staff on the left.)

By the way, here is the same employee.
The most exciting process begins - preparing the mask. First of all, a plasticine mask is molded on the cast, "complementing" the artist's face to the face of the person he will portray. Today they make Sting out of me, for example :)

And from Lena Maximova - Mikhail "Thousand Devils!" Boyarsky.

Sometimes the master gets carried away, it turns out like this, completely unlike Alexander Gradsky, for example:

The day is long, there is little strength, and therefore the guys periodically support each other with music :)

But advice is also not complete without help, of course. Especially when it comes to Sting. Responsibility g)

Sculpting a face is the most time-consuming process that takes an entire working day or even more. When the shape of the face is ready, a relief is applied to the "skin" so that the face then looks more natural, and not like a plastic mask (as it actually is).

And a mustache, of course. No mustache.

When the plasticine ends, it's time to pour the workpiece. But first, we line up the masks and admire the result.

What we got is called "positive".

This blank exactly repeats the shape of the hero's face, which will be portrayed in the show "Just the same". But before the real mask is still like walking to the moon. We have to make a negative, and only then pour the composition there, which, once frozen, will become a mask superimposed on the face of the hero of the program. Let's continue.

The positive is coated with a layer of silicone, which will be the upper, soft, negative layer. Tadysch.

Another layer, thicker, is applied on top.

And one more.

And more, and more. Until the workpiece becomes like this.

We apply a layer of grease to facilitate the subsequent removal of the workpiece from the mold, and you can proceed to the mold itself. Plastic paste, which is a component of the outer part of the negative, although it looks like ice cream, is not recommended for ingestion due to its tendency to harden and toxic. Let's just say the nutritionist will not approve)

The mixture is two-component. Fill and mix.

And mix.

Until we get a homogeneous, slightly foamy mass.

And while this is happening, pay attention to the abundance of tools and words to denote it :)

We apply plastic mass to the workpiece.

In a thick, thick layer. Here, as you can see, the material is not spared :)

In this state, the workpiece will stand for at least 12 hours so that the soft layers of silicone harden and are ready to form a mask. For some reason, the word "silence" is asked.

Even despite the fact that 14 masks need to be prepared for each program (and since two programs are filmed two days in a row, then in a week and a half, when the images have already been approved, 28 masks need to be made), the guys have a little free time. And they know what to spend it on :)

In fact, if you see in Moscow on Halloween in a freaking-type club with about such a face, then 85% of these guys work. :)

Well, the time has come, and you need to separate the positive and negative in order to make a mask with them. An iron spacer is inserted into the positive in advance, with the help of which undocking can be carried out smoothly and without harsh actions (and also with the help of knowledge of the rule of the lever, a simple device with a belt and such a mother) so as not to break the silicone.

Plasticine is no longer needed, so its remains must be removed from both parts.

Now a layer of vinyl is applied to the positive. This film will hold the mask on the artist's face.

Lubricant is applied to the inside of the negative so that the mask does not stick to it (negative) and can be easily reached.

Now the actual production of the mask begins. It is mixed on the basis of several components, but the basis, of course, is silicone (silicone is our everything!). It is very important to keep the proportions.

Without the dyes, the mask would be transparent, and it would have to be painted to match the skin color right on the face, creating a layer of "plaster". In order not to complicate the work of the make-up artists, the mask is painted in a corporeal color at the manufacturing stage. A little creamy, a little red in taste and by eye.

Now a very important point, from the silicone mass, before it hardens, it is necessary to remove air bubbles so that the mass is homogeneous. How to do it? It's very simple. Vacuum.

The solution is placed under a bell, from which air is pumped out by an electric pump.

Oleg is closely following the process. Not that something could go wrong here, he just likes to look at the bubbles :)

Never work with a vacuum without gloves. Do you hear? Never!

Finally, the bubble-free liquid mask (this is important) is poured into the negative.

The positive is inserted from above. Thus, the resulting mask from the inside will repeat the shape of my face, and from the outside - the face of the artist whom I will play.

It remains to press well and wait again until it hardens.

While we are waiting for the finished mask, let me introduce you to the director of the Illusion Industries Moscow studio, Irina. She is great:)

Finally, the mask is ready, and it must be carefully separated from the negative and positive. Almost zen :)

In the instructions provided by American technologists, it is recommended to keep the mask on the positive, but our guys have slightly improved the approach, so that the mask does not deform under its own weight.

The makeup process looks something like this, and this is just the beginning.

I have about the following associations.

By the way, although this is not the subject of this post, Sting ended up like this:

Hope you enjoyed it :)

The post was prepared specifically for the community

The task set before me is to make Baba Yaga from Tolya. So that the children would leave the New Year tree gray-haired and with nocturnal enuresis ... The timing is the shortest, they did not leave time for breaking, there was 200 km between me and the model. I love such orders, especially if five minutes ago I had no idea about stage, carnival, theatrical and other makeup. Maximum - how to pinch your own eyebrows, and here you are - from a handsome man to a toothless old woman and back. Well, if it is necessary, it is necessary ...

So: "We will not take Baba Yaga from the outside, we will bring up in our team" (c)

What was needed for this:

1) Building alabaster

2) Vaseline

3) Cocktail tubes (or shrink tubes, as in our case)

4) Construction silicone.

5) Acrylic paints

6) Sanitary flax.

7) Stacks, toothpicks, brushes, and more ..

8) Tolya. Or any other person without fear of a confined space and a runny nose.
9) Starch paste.

Well, it started.

Here, the subject's face is already greased with petroleum jelly, heat-shrinkable tubes flaunt in the nose, and each of them is additionally wrapped in fumlent, so that the tube in the nostril does not dangle, does not seek to fall out or let Tolya into the lungs of alabaster. At that moment, we discovered that the fum plant does not stick to the oiled eyebrows at all, and when the model sits and turns its head, it is extremely inconvenient to conjure over it, so we went to the basement, where Tole could take a horizontal position, and I could get dirty with almost impunity and continued to do what they started, whatever it cost.

So that the alabaster would not flow into the ears and penetrate the hairdo, they pulled a swimming cap over their head, and a piece of sheet was tied around the face, in the manner of a tooth-suffering person or a client of a catavern, so that his jaw would not drop ..

Here I, on a freshly made paste, diligently glue fum tape. There was a thought to trust the oracles of the make-up art, and just grease Tolina's vegetation with petroleum jelly thicker, maybe it would not have stuck completely to death, but thank God that we went our own way ... and stopped. It is scary to think how loudly and multi-storey the intelligent Anatoly would express himself if he fell into a plaster trap with his eyebrows ...

When the model is already lying, sniffs through the tubes, we start alabaster porridge. Everyone remembers the capital postulates of this action, right? The ratio is about one to two (one part water, two gypsum) alabaster in water and not vice versa. Why so - I have no idea. I just take my word for it.

And when the gruel satisfies with its consistency of liquid sour cream - quickly, accurately and, most importantly, without listening to advice (and literally everyone present, right up to the model itself, is tempted to advise, until the piece of alabaster closes its mouth in mid-sentence) we apply plaster of Paris to the face, slapping it well, smearing it and pressing down on all protuberances, applying on bulges and fighting the passionate desire to pull out the tubes, for they sway and get in the way.

Error number times. The free space in the nostril near the tube had to be plugged with cotton wool. Then it would not have swayed so much, and the inevitable vegetation would not have migrated to gypsum.

But what is not done is not done.

The plaster has been applied, the model lies, reflects on the eternal, I wash the containers, the table, my hands, and I am wildly worried about three things at once: 1) well, how badly did I apply alabaster and the cast will be with shells? 2) well, how, when the cast is taken, the plaster will fall apart 3) but did Tolya die, something is quietly lying ... At times I jumped to the subject, listened to the quiet whistle from the tubes, tapped the plaster patch with my claws and wondered: it's time / not time And how can I understand that it's time, when I have never taken a cast before the village?

Finally he got tired of lying, we got tired of worrying. I, it was, grabbed the edge of the plaster with my hands, but then Tolya made a kind of rumbling, which meant: "Don't go, I'll do it myself", hugged the plaster with my palms and froze ... two centimeters of alabaster, but we saw only a motionless figure whose breathing quickened at times and toes clenched into fists. It turns out that half of the hair from the nostrils remained in the cast. And she remained not of her own free will. They didn't plan to leave their nose so early ...

The cast was not shot very well, the edges were thin and broke around the forehead. Which gave me the idea to take a second cast, in reserve. Well, how will the first die in an unequal battle? And, encouraged by the first experience with a not entirely negative result, I became brave and again rolled Tolya into a cast almost to the navel. Again, I didn't bother with my nostrils ...

And in the end this cast was also safely removed, but the remnants of the hair from the nose, part of the hair from the chest and some part from the sideburns passed into it ...

Having carefully packed the fragile (because not dry), in places hairy, plaster shells of Fat Face in paper, rags, a box, twine criss-cross and in the trunk, we went home.

PART TWO.

"I love to watch him conjure. Either he will be killed or crippled" (c)

So. Both casts, upon arrival home, migrated to the oven, where they dried under the hot air until they resonated. Then I thickly smeared all the protuberances of the casts with dishwashing liquid, and praying to all the Gods, my husband and I began to pour plaster into plaster. Do you know how scary? It is very scary ... Thousands "What if the negative from the pisitive does not come off, what then ?!" literally driven crazy. But everything turned out almost successfully again. A chisel, a mallet, a crunch and something small rolled across the floor. The nose fell off.

Generally, it sounded like magic. When the casts were taken from Toliny's face, they, to be honest, did not make any impression, and looked more like gnarled bowls with holes than a noble human profile. But when the shells were kicked off the casts, both gasped. Tolya is lying on the table in duplicate, one even smiles serenely. This is the first one. Then the peasant did not yet suspect what it would be like and, not feeling the catch, quietly rejoiced in life. But the second Tol concentrated ... Here he already knows for certain how much a pound is dashing and where Hund begraben. Here he has no time for sly smiles in plaster cast.

Well, now, taking the most smiling (and lightest in weight) muzzle-face, we begin to cover up the irregularities with molten plasticine, and having put plasticine on the face itself, armed with stacks, dental picks, a hairdryer, again, we grumble plasticine here and there, giving birth to a woman I gu.

At least approximately according to the prototype.

And here THIS was pulled out. Since the prototype is thin and spiteful, and the original is full of cheeks and smiling, it turned out to be a symbiosis of spite and plump.

AND! Mistake number two. A bit of history.

Blinded the cutie from what was. And now you need to get negative. It all went on as in the first stage, only without tubules and nerves. Just to get the negative out of the positive, both heavy ingots with plasticine in the middle had to be pushed into the oven for half an hour. Then, with a shout: "KiiiiiA!" jerk to pull one out of the other, with disgust following his eyes rolling under the sink nose.

Well, I caught my nose (God knows, not for the first and not at all for the last time. washes ", they searched all over the house, while what they were looking for was found in the folds of the sofa deck ...) and in the negative I went to smear the silicone, making mistake number two.

Of course, it's all about the lack of practice (or rather, the absence of such) and the excess of theory. On the website of make-up artists, guru, master, sensei, teacher and just a talented make-up artist Denis, in detail and in pictures, told the public about the creation of a latex mask. And there it is that latex was poured into a negative, but in several layers, reinforced with pieces of gauze, dried with a hairdryer and so on. But I don't have latex! Where to get such a miracle ... I have silicone. Building. It is also absolutely wonderful, but it has a number of its own characteristics that must be taken into account. And there was absolutely no time to take into account and wander through the rake, knocking up the bumps of experience! Since the Christmas tree is assigned on the 19th, where Yaga should be in the image. And the point.

So, silicone. Silicone, he's ... he's tricky. And you can safely forget all its technical characteristics written on the package after reading it, if you are not going to use it for the purpose prescribed by the manufacturer. It is unlikely that the manufacturer took into account that in his silicone I would mix acrylic paint, foundation, ink from gel pens, bronze powder, silver powder, stuffed with plumbing linen and, in principle, I would scoff unprecedentedly. For this objective reason, I had no idea how much silicone + paint + calcium chloride from the ampoule would cure into Baba Yaga, so I applied the above mixture with a thin layer, well, only pushed it into my nose more generously, so that if the silicone refuses to harden, the putty could not be scraped off dying of greed. And if you do it according to your mind, then you had to gurgle the dyed silicone into the mask from the heart, make channels on the sides for removing the excess and press down all this beauty with positive Tolya scraped off from plasticine. But! But ... now I'm so smart and have learned a lot, for example, that silicone and gypsum have a layer of dishwashing liquid - and not a layer at all. They didn't notice her. And they became friends almost forever. Now I know that as a separator you need to use silicone hand cream (for the poor, for the bohatykh - a special silicone separator zashibispocene), and then I had fun in wild time trouble, in the most severe repair conditions, where the walls are demolished on the left, they are erected on the right, and a wonderful miracle that Baba Yaga was born not quite a freak.

Without make-up

On the eyebrows and hair went sanitary linen. Never has a salesman in a building materials store observed such a sincere joy in a customer at the sight of a skein of flax, still, I have not met such noble gray hair in living grandmothers for a long time.

(based on personal experience and some articles found on the Internet)

Stage 1. Taking a cast of the face. (negative)

In order for the mask to contact the skin of the face in the right places, to look and move naturally, the mask should be made exactly according to the impression from the model's face.

ATTENTION!!!

This stage is the most difficult and responsible of all, so be careful and take it only by observing all safety measures!

To make an impression, we need:

1. Architectural gypsum brand G16. (construction G6 is usually of poor quality).
2. Petrolatum.
3. A large piece of plastic or some newspaper.
4. Rags.
5. Thick cocktail straws.
6. A container for diluting gypsum (a children's rubber ball cut in half is very convenient).
7. Bandages or gauze and cotton wool.
8. Scissors.
9. Silicone pool cap.

Process:

Cover the floor with plastic or newspaper. Tuck the model's hair under the pool cap (try not to cover her forehead too much) and rub the model's eyebrows with a damp remnant so that they do not bump. Place the model comfortably on the floor or chairs. Secure your head with wet rags to prevent the plaster from staining your clothes and to prevent the plaster from running down your face. Prepare the cocktail tubes, wrap cotton wool around the ends of the tubes and insert them into each nostril of the model. Make sure that they are easy to breathe through and that they do not cause discomfort to the model. Liberally lubricate the model's face with petroleum jelly, especially thickly grease the eyebrows and eyelashes (since the eye area is not very important to us, for reliability, you can cover the model's eyelashes with small pieces of dense material abundantly lubricated with petroleum jelly). Ask the model to close her eyes tightly and not move her lips.

Dilute the cast with water until it becomes thick sour cream and, with quick but gentle movements, apply the cast to the model's face. The layer should be thin so that the face does not deform under the weight of the material. It is necessary to start application from the center of the face, gradually moving to the edges. Make sure that the gypsum does not run off and form cavities and air bubbles. It is especially worth spilling the area of \u200b\u200bthe nose (be sure to warn the model that the plaster of Paris heats up quite strongly when it sets). When the plaster has set a little, place the pieces of bandage or gauze evenly on the plaster surface. Pour over the second layer, being careful to maintain the same wall thickness in all places in the impression. Let the plaster set (check the density of the plaster with your fingernail or a match). As soon as the surface under the match feels firm, you can start taking an impression of the face. Ask the model to move their lips and breathe out a little through the mouth (this will facilitate removal). Take the impression carefully. If hair gets into the cast, cut it off carefully. Let the model go to wash the face, while you yourself examine the cast for air bubbles and cavities. If there are any, they will need to be covered up (this will be discussed below).

Stage 2. Making a face casting. (positive)

At the first stage, we got the negative of the model's face. In order for us to be able to change the texture of the face in the future, we need a positive. We will make it in the second stage.

For this we need:

1. Gypsum (see stage 1).
2. Small spatula.
3. Skin of moderate grain size.
4. Large gypsum container (may need more volume than step 1).
5. Nitrolac (furniture).
6. Small paint brush
7. Rope or piece of wire.
8. A hammer or mallet.
9. Blunt chisel or similar tool.

Process:

If defects are found on the impression, they must be eliminated. Scratches and bumps must be carefully sanded, and cavities and bubbles must be covered with plaster. Use a small spatula and carefully putty any blemishes. After the plaster is dry, these places must be carefully sanded. Check the entire surface again. Sand all areas that raise doubts about their smoothness. Let the mold dry completely.

Apply a thin layer of nitro varnish to the dry inner surface of the mold. Let dry and apply another layer. If bubbles or other defects appear on the surface of the varnish, the dry surface of the varnish can be carefully sanded with moisture-resistant fine sandpaper, moistened with water. Then you need to apply another layer of varnish.

If necessary, make a side out of papier-mâché or plasticine, bringing the edges of the form to the same level (try to achieve even edges of the form at the first stage).

After making sure that the varnish is completely dry, lubricate the inner surface of the mold with Vaseline. Then dilute the gypsum (a little thinner than in the first stage) and pour it into the mold, having previously immersed a loop made of rope or a piece of wire into the mold (it will be convenient to hold the casting for this loop when removing it from the mold). Leave to dry. A completely dry casting can be removed. Grasp the loop and, lifting the casting with the mold, blow the mallet along the edges of the mold (try not to hit the casting) knock down the mold. If it breaks, it's okay, we won't need it anymore.

If the casting cannot be removed, do not use too much force. In this case, carefully chop off the shape using an unnecessary blunt chisel. If the casting is removed without damage, you can consider the second stage finished.

Stage 3. Modeling. (positive)

Having received the positive of the model's face, we can start changing the texture of the face in the way we need. It all depends on your desire and imagination and, of course, on your artistic skills. If you are not confident in your abilities, ask your friends to help you create the image.

We will need:

1. Nitrolac.
2. Plasticine.
3. Fine-grained skin.
4. Sculpting tools (spatulas, scrapers, etc.)
5. Very straight arms.

Process:

Putty and sand all defects. Allow the casting to dry thoroughly and cover the casting with varnish as in the second step. Let the varnish dry.

Mark with a thin marker the main lines of the face (the line of the eyes, mouth, vertical axis of the face). Knead the plasticine in your hands and, dividing it into small portions, starting from the center of the casting, outline the main features of the future mask. Constantly observe the symmetry, measuring all the details with the drawn lines. Around the eyes, as well as around the periphery of the face, reduce the modeling to nothing, so that a smooth transition between plasticine and plaster is formed. Mark out the roti nostrils especially carefully, cutting the plasticine to the very base along the line between the upper and lower lips and the model's real nostrils, respectively. Try not to create a large number of closed sections - this can make it difficult to remove the form.

Once you're done with the rough sculpting, start making finer details. It is not worth sculpting very insignificant elements - it is better to cut them on plaster, creating an intermediate shape and casting a mask (I will not describe this process, since it is identical to stages 2 and 4). Smooth down the clay surface thoroughly.

Stage 4. Removing the mold from the molded casting. (negative)

When the sculpting is finished, we need to get the shape (negative) of the new texture in order to get an exact copy of it in latex later. This is what we will do at this stage.

We need:

1. Gypsum.
2. Petrolatum.
3. Mallet (hammer is highly undesirable).
4. Nitrolac.
5. Wet rags.

Process:

When finished sculpting, cover the molded casting with Vaseline. Place the casting on a smooth surface greased with Vaseline or on a damp cloth. Dilute the plaster to a slightly thicker state than in Step 1. Carefully pour the molded casting starting from the center. Make sure the fill is even. Once the gypsum thickens and stops flowing, form a thick-walled bowl that is comfortable to work with. Make massive bumpers around the edges of the form, because you will have to knock on them with a hammer, removing the mold from the casting. When the plaster has hardened enough, but still hot to the touch, begin removing the mold. Lift the casting by the loop and with strong neat blows of the mallet on the sides of the mold, remove the casting. In this case, the plasticine will most likely be damaged, but this is not important for us - it will still have to be removed from the casting. If you cannot separate the casting and the mold, you will have to heat them up in the oven to soften the clay. Remove the adhering pieces of plasticine from the mold and carefully sand the surface of the mold. Seal up the sinks and varnish the inside of the mold. Now you can cast the mask in latex.

Stage 5. Working with latex.

When the shape is ready, we can think about exactly how we want to make the mask. We have three options: regular latex and two foam options. Foam looks and moves more realistic, but requires more labor and financial costs. To begin with, I'll go over the process of working with regular latex.

We will need:

1. Liquid latex or multi-component (2-4 components) hot foam latex or single-component cold foam latex. Look for latex from Kryolan, the easiest way to buy it in Russia.
2. Brush.
3. Talc.
4. Ripped nylon stockings.
5. Scissors.

Process:

There are three types of latex and for each the preparation and operation will be different. The easiest way to work with liquid latex is, so I'll describe this technology first.

So, to work with liquid latex, we only need a shape. Clean the casting of the face from plasticine and put it aside for now - we don't need it for now. Your further actions depend on how much latex you bought. If there is a lot of latex and it is possible to fill the entire form to the brim, then the casting method can be used. To do this, pour your existing latex into the mold and leave it on for a while. Time will have to be selected experimentally. After a sufficient layer of latex has settled on the walls, drain the excess latex back into the bottle and dry well. The mask is ready.

If you are low on latex, you can apply it in layers with a brush. There are many layers to apply, so be patient. To save latex, you can reinforce the mask with a nylon stocking, laying pieces of it in critical places and smearing it with latex. After reaching the desired layer thickness, leave the mask to dry.

After the mask has dried, sprinkle the inner surface of the latex with talcum powder and gently pry the edge off, start peeling the mask off the mold. Sprinkle talcum powder on the parts of the mask to be removed to prevent sticking. After removing the mask completely, wipe off excess talcum powder and leave to dry for another couple of hours.

After allowing the latex to dry, remove the casting from the bins and put a mask on it. Use a thin marker to mark the trim lines. Cut through the eyes and nostrils, cut off excess edges and elements that should be glued separately (for example, the lower jaw). After trimming, try on the mask on the model's face. Trim the uneven edges, check that the diameter of the holes in the nostrils is sufficient so that the model can breathe normally through the nose and the mask does not deform from the exhaled air. Expand your nostrils if necessary.

You can glue the finished mask to your face using liquid latex (it gradually thickens the edges of the mask, therefore it is not very desirable) or special glue (it can be easily washed off with a special wash or alcohol). The protruding edges are covered with a special material to flatten the edges. You can paint the mask with face painting (fatty make-up spoils latex). You can also paint it permanently with acrylic paint on a latex basis.

I will describe the principle of working with penolatex a little later.

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