Getting plastered

[auntiemeesh]

After work on Thursday, I headed out to eve11's place in order to work on costuming stuff. Our grand plan is to make cat face prosthetics for our cat/nun costumes. This is a complicated, time consuming (emphasis on time-consuming) process. On Thursday, we got done with the first step, making a face mold.

Step 1: Prepwork - after slicking my hair back with hair glue (and boy was that a pain to wash out) I donned the oh-so-sexy bald cap and plastic sheeting smock.


Step 2: Alginate - this is a funky substance that goes on wet and dries to a rubbery consistency in about five minutes, making it pretty difficult to get a thorough coating before it becomes unusable. eve11 did a masterful job of not suffocating me while applying this gunk.


Step 3: Plaster - After the alginate has set, it's time to apply plaster wrap. This is a bit more time consuming, as you have to apply several layers to provide a solid support for the alginate mold, once you take it off. Again, it's important to remember to not block the all-important breathing holes.


Step 3b: Here I am, all plastered up. This has to sit for several minutes to dry enough to provide that solid support for the alginate skin. I was holding my head tilted back while getting all this stuff on and it was heavy - by the end, my neck was pretty tired.


Step 4: Sweet freedom! We had to wait while the plaster set before taking it off. This is a hot process, as the plaster heats up as it dries. By the time it was ready to be popped off, it felt like I had a hot towel wrapped around my face. It was oddly relaxing.


I was pretty pleased to find that I didn't get at all claustrophobic or freaked out during this whole process, although there was a moment when my nostrils got a bit blocked up and that was disconcerting.

The second step in the big process was to pour the UltraCal (sort of like plaster of paris) into the mold. We turned my mold up like a bowl and realized that there wasn't enough wall under the chin, so we built that up with clay, then poured the UltraCal, and allowed it to set while the tables were turned and eve11 submitted to getting her face molded. Sadly, I don't have any photos of that.

Next up is to create a clay model of the cat face over top of the UltraCal model of my face. I had hoped to do that today, but I'm going to have to go out and buy a few things (vaseline and rubbing alcohol) before I can get started on that. There will be more photos to follow once that is done.

Comments

[shirebound]

Holy smokes, I'm not sure I would have stayed as calm as you did!

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

It's definitely a weird sensation. But kind of fun. :)

[ctegan.livejournal.com]

Wow! I know I couldn't have sat still for that. That's incredible. I'd love to see the end result!

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I've got a pic of the finished mold. I'll be sure to post it once I've got the cat face sculpted. :)

[whtmtnwmn.livejournal.com]

How cool! Can't wait to see the finished product!
=D

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty eager to see the final product myself. I kind of wish the sculpting fairy would visit overnight and do the cat face for me, because I pretty much suck at that sort of thing.

[b-briarwood.livejournal.com]

Wow! I've always wanted to try doing stuff like that.
Can't wait to see the final results.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I'm eager to see the finished product myself. :)

[eve11]

yay pictures! The whole thing is still a little creepifying.

I took an hour this morning and have a general cat-shape on mine. Still very rough. I'll put up a few pictures tomorrow.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I need to go to the store tomorrow and buy vaseline and rubbing alcohol before I begin the clay work. Today (well, this evening) I spent a couple of hours cutting out the pieces for the habit. I'll start piecing them together tomorrow afternoon. The habit itself shouldn't take too long to sew because it's basically just a T-tunic with sleeves and a collar. :)

[arthurfrdent.livejournal.com]

wish I could be there to see you kids, when you are finished...

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

It's too bad you can't make it. We'll be sure to take lots of pics, though, so it will be almost like being there. :)

[eve11]

vaseline isn't needed for the sculpting, only for making the negative mold after the sculpture is done. You might want to drop by an art store somewhere-- CMU has one in the basement level of the HUB building, under the bookstore, and purchase a wooden sculpting stylus or two (they're only like $1 or $2), and if you see any good texture sponges they might be useful.

[eve11]

oh, and a little paintbrush for detailing and for applying the alcohol...

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

There's an art store in Squirrel Hill that I might be able to get to, at some point. I hate this whole running out of time thing.

[grey-wonderer.livejournal.com]

There is a very old Hailey Mills film called "The Trouble with Angels" in which they coat a girl's face with plaster. They actually stuck straws up her nose so she could breath during the process. Your post reminded me of it. LOL

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've ever seen that one. Sounds interesting. I thought about straws for the nose. :)

[grey-wonderer.livejournal.com]

It's an old movie and so I don't know if you could get a copy but it is fairly amusing as I recall.

[ani-no-mouse.livejournal.com]

That's an amazing set of photos! I think you were exceptionally brave to undergo the procedure, and to take responsibility for inflicting it on eve11!

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

Taking the responsibility to inflict it on eve11 was way scarier than letting her do it to me. I was afraid I was going to suffocate her.

[ani-no-mouse.livejournal.com]

That's how I would have felt about it. But you were courageous and adventurous, and I've seen her comments on your post, so I know she lived for you to tell the tale! So, all's well!