Image Two: Trial and Error

Hey and welcome back to my blog!

This blog is going to discuss some trial and errors that have been done for image two.

The process for image one started with creating a half face life cast, making sure that the top of the head was casted, which can be seen in figure 1 (O'Connor, 2022. Life Cast).

An in depth walk through of life casting can be found by clicking the button below. This will take you to a previous blog written explaining the process.

Life Casting Blog

Once the life cast had been performed, this was filled with plaster and a cast was made. The eyebrows were lightly drilled in so that when it comes to hair punching, the student will know where to actually punch the eyebrow hairs. The cast was then sanded and rasped so it was smooth, making sure to keep the skin texture.

Figure 2 (O'Connor, 2022. Cast) shows the cast before it had been corrected.

Figure 1: Life Cast (O'Connor, 2022).

Image two will have a mask of the model's face as a key feature in the image. This mask needs to be 3D and rigid in order for the model to hold it, and it not be flimsy or lose shape.

A master mold was made, which was going to be used as a squash mold since a 3D prosthetic was needed.

Figure 2: Cast (O'Connor, 2022).

Trial One

The master mold was used in place of a squash mold as a first trial to see if time consuming steps, such as creating squash molds, were able to be skipped.

It was uncertain if this was going to work, since a master mold is an exact fit, whereas squash molds have a 3mm gap where the silicone is able to sit. This was trialled nonetheless as it would save time and resources.

Cap plastic was applied to just the inside of the mold, as the only part of the mask that will be painted is the outside of the face. Since this was needed to be rigid, PlatSil Hardener was used to make sure that the mask was not going to lose its shape.

70g of PlatSil gel 25 A and B and 70g PlatSil gel Hardner was used. The life cast was squashed into the mold and a heavy Figure 3: First Trial (O'Connor, 2022). box was put on top of this to ensure it had a good squash.

The trial was successful. It showed that the master mold was able to be used in place of a squash mold to create the mask prosthetic. The temperature of the room was extremely cold on this day, so the silicone was setting much slower than it normally would. The mould was taken out before it was fully set, meaning that the trial became misshaped, as when it had finally set it was not in the mould. This is why the trial is squashed, as seen in figure 3 (O'Connor, 2022. First Trial).

Trial Two

For trial two, the same steps were taken, however this time the squash was going to be left over night to ensure that the silicone was fully set. A difference in steps this time round was also to just place the life cast in, rather than squashing it with a heavy box, utilising gravity.

Figure 4: Comparison of Trial One and Trial Two (O'Connor, 2022).

Figure 4 (O'Connor, 2022. Comparison of Trial One and Trial Two) shows the difference between the trials. By allowing the silicone enough time to set, a rigid mask was created which is exactly what is desired. Figure 5 (O'Connor, 2022. Holding the Mask) shows that the mask is sturdy enough to be held, without it losing its shape.

Trial two would have been perfect, however, more trials working with the cap plastic need to be done, as it was peeling off around the eye area, which is not ideal. This method is the method that will be continued through all trials as the texture and hardness of the mask in trial two is exactly what is needed.

Figure 5: Holding the Mask (O'Connor, 2022).

Thankyou for reading this blog!

Until next time,

Alysha:)

Reference List

O'Connor, A. (2022) Cast [Image].

O'Connor, A. (2022) Comparison of Trial One and Trial Two [Image]

O'Connor, A. (2022) First Trial [Image].

O'Connor, A. (2022) Holding the Mask [Image].

O'Connor, A. (2022) Life Cast [Image].