Mold Making

What is the best mold filler to use for making life like body parts.?

I’am actually trying my hand at mold making for a friend who is making a home horror movie. I already have a silicone mold of a head, I just need to find a filler to use to actually make the head. Its needs to be pretty firm and strong so it wont fall apart but also I don’t want it as hard as plastic. The neck has to be able to bend without breaking or letting the head just flop over to the side either. I’m sure if you do this sort of thing you probably know what the hell I’m talking about and can hopefully help me.

I hang out online with people who do haunted house and theme park animatronics, movie special effects puppetry, etc. I’ve done some mold making and casting, and my brother had his own business doing it professionally.

These are the names that keep coming up as far as suppliers of mold making and casting materials online…

http://www.monstermakers.com/

http://www.burmanfoam.com/

http://www.smooth-on.com/

These look like they may have potential…

http://www.gmfoam.com/

http://www.costumesandprops.com/

http://www.fxsupply.com/

http://www.michaeldavy.com/

This place is one of the best for online discount sculpting and casting supplies…

http://www.artstuf.com/

All of these sites have good information on mold making and prop making, and/or people you can contact to get more information about your specific project.

Ballistics gelatin looks cool on Mythbusters, but the homemade kind you find on the Internet is nothing more than glorified Jell-O and is definitely not “pretty firm and strong” enough to work for movie props.

Depending on how long the prop is in the shot, and how detailed it needs to be for the camera, the least you’d probably be able to get away with is some kind of alginate – though it isn’t a lot better than gelatin, and is normally used as a mold material rather than a casting material…

http://www.smooth-on.com/lifecasting.htm

If your heart is set on using ballistics gelatin, it is made using 250 bloom gelatin, or Type A bloom 250 Pharmagel, but it can be expensive and would probably give poor results as a movie prop…

http://www.tacticalworks.ca/content_nonsub/gelatin_testing/gelatin_preparation/ballistic_gelatin_preparation.html

http://www.bulkfoods.com/gelatin.htm

http://rumkin.com/reference/firearms/ballistic_gel.php

If you wanted to do it right you’d probably use foam latex. The sites I listed at the top have information about this material as well as techniques for its preparation. Don’t be put off by the term “puppets.” In the movie and TV world a puppet can be anything from Miss Piggy, to a life-sized animatronic zombie, to a dinosaur…

http://www.monstermakers.com/puppet.html

http://www.kelatow.com/Tut_Foam_1.htm

http://www.stopmotionanimation.com/handbook/

http://www.angelfire.com/anime4/zungstudio/

A lot of it depends on how much time and money you were willing to invest in the project. If you had limited resources I would honestly think about using some kind of paper mache technique, like paper over carved styrofoam, depending on the requirements of the shot.

What kind of silicone mold do you have? Who made it, or where did you get it? Silicone would also be a good casting material to make the actual prop. It can be obtained at the sites linked at the top.

Good luck!

Mold making basics: Silicone Block Mold

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