Foamed Gelatin Prosthetics

There are many different materials today that can be used to make prosthetics, but most of them can be hard to find and complicated to use, but gelatin is available anywhere, and with a little practice, is very easy to work with.


Parts:

Unflavored, unsweetened gelatin powder.
Hand mixer (with only one beater)
plastic cups
plasticine clay
skin colored acrylic paint
fake blood
flesh tone makeup
plaster

Step 1 Sculpting

To begin, use some plasticine clay to sculpt your prosthetic on a paper plate, in my case I'm making a puzzle piece shaped wound, from the 'SAW' films, but this can be used for just about anything (burn scars, bullet wounds, gashes whatever). Make sure to smooth out the edges of the sculpt as best as you can, the smoother you blend it into the plate, the easier the piece will be to apply later. cut the bottom out from a plastic container, and place around your sculpt, seal edges with more clay.

Comments

[lvegetables]

this looks pretty nasty :)
my only suggestions would be to blend the color and edges a bit better, and try adding the effect of swelling and busing around the wound. Maybe add some black on the inside. Looks good though!! I'm sure many will find help in your instructions.

[polysterene]

What kind of Gelatin did you use to create this?

[strmrnnr]

These would be good with some edible paint. You could eat your scabs, and gross some people out even more.

[ItsTheHobbs]

OH MY GOD!!!!!! someone stabbed you with a puzzle piece!

[slicendice]

Yeah, those senior citizens can get violent when you interrupt game time!

[ItsTheHobbs]

Lulz...........

[PKM]

Wow... it's a bit more effort but that looks so much nicer to actually use than the liquid latex/toilet paper concoction I've used in the past. (After a moderately stressful week-long shoot I have shell-shock from the smell of liquid latex and a certain brand of hair wax...) How resilient is the finished prosthesis? I guess if it's for a party costume it's not going to take much abuse, but could you fight a crazed axe murderer or the ravening hordes of the living dead and keep it intact? Also, will it start to dissolve if you use water-based colours or fake blood on it?

[slicendice]

it's very flexible stuff, moves very realistically with skin, but if you need it to stay on the skin longer, you might consider tacking it on with spirit gum instead.

[Robotrix]

I've used water based fake blood on this with good success. I think it only degrades with heat (although this does mean sweat can affect the prosthetics) They are sturdier if you add glycerin with the water when you're mixing the gelatin. It gives them a little more resiliancy and smooth texture. Small palm sized sheets are about as sturdy as rubber, and can be cut and shaped in similar ways.

[Robotrix]

Nice job! Great to see this on instructables. I only found out about this technique in October. We used it to make some food safe organs for a zombie flick. You could mention as well that by pouring the un-foamed gelatin on a cool plate, you can make some thin sheets that are a great substitute for skin. I used some to cover one eye and to make some damagable skin patches.