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My first Instructable!!!!
While watching TV I saw the famous Geico Caveman commercial. I thought to myself what a great Halloween costume idea, so I went to work and took some pics along the way. Hope you enjoy and hopefully this Halloween there will be a bunch of caveman walking the streets!!! Total project cost was about $30.00 excluding some stuff I already had, and it took about two days to complete.
While watching TV I saw the famous Geico Caveman commercial. I thought to myself what a great Halloween costume idea, so I went to work and took some pics along the way. Hope you enjoy and hopefully this Halloween there will be a bunch of caveman walking the streets!!! Total project cost was about $30.00 excluding some stuff I already had, and it took about two days to complete.
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Signing UpStep 1What you will need
MATERIALS:
For lifecast:
Alginate
plaster bandages
plaster
petroleum jelly
bald cap
drinking straws
another person
For sculpture:
modeling clay
miscellaneous utensils
orange
more plaster
For mask:
liquid latex
wig
spirit gum
makeup
scissors
For lifecast:
Alginate
plaster bandages
plaster
petroleum jelly
bald cap
drinking straws
another person
For sculpture:
modeling clay
miscellaneous utensils
orange
more plaster
For mask:
liquid latex
wig
spirit gum
makeup
scissors
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For removing the first plaster face from the second plaster face, as some people have said, coat the entire thing with dishwashing liquid (like palmolive) or with vaseline. Vaseline can break down latex but you probably won't have a problem with that since it mostly soaks into the plaster.
THIN coats of latex + hairdryer = much time saved.
You can also make the forehead, cheeks, and nose in separate pieces. Feather out the edges so they're very thin. When you glue them to your face with spirit gum, melt the edges with acetone (polish remover) but for god's sake KEEP IT OUT OF YOUR EYES and don't breathe it in. Put a small amount in a glass or ceramic bowl or cup and paint it on with a cheapo paintbrush. This will help blend the pieces together a lot better and make the appliances more comfortable to wear, especially around the mouth and corners of the eyes.
The person who suggested putting cotton balls inside the latex has a great idea. You will sweat a lot under a latex mask and this trick will help keep the sweat from pooling up in the brows and nose, which could later result in weirdness when it decides to come out, ha ha.
Spirit gum remover is your friend. Get some when you buy your spirit gum.
The latex at Michael's in the mold-making department is, for this purpose, the same as the stuff you can get from Joe Blasco or Ben Nye and costs about 1/3 less. I wouldn't put it right on my skin, but after the solvent cures, you're just left with the dried latex, and we've never had a problem with cured appliances. Haven't actually tried it on my skin but I would use a cosmetic grade latex for that part.
To lay a beard, paint on a couple of thin layers of latex over the whole area and allow to dry. Paint a thin line of latex where you want to place the hair. Start from the bottom and work your way up. Fan the hair in your fingers and use the end of a toothbrush or paintbrush to embed the hair in the latex. Allow to dry before moving up the cheek or chin for the next line of hair.
For a natural look the top of the beard should be a lot more sparse than the bottom. Pay close attention to the hairline, how it "grows" from the face. If necessary lay in one or two hairs at a time. However, for this costume you probably don't need to be that picky.
www.dalchem.com.au/
I started this project last night and it took me 3 times to mix the aliginate correctly. I bought 1lb of alignate, which is enough for about 3 masks. When you mix the alignate with water, make sure you use a 1:1 ratio. I used 16oz (2 cups) warm water with 2 cups alginate powder. On the alignate it told me to use 5.5oz alginate for 16oz water, but they base that on weight, not volume. if you dont have a scale to measure the alginate to 5.5oz, just use a 1:1 ratio. (2 cups water, 2 cups alginate. Note: Make sure you have another person mix the alginate and apply it on your face. Doing it by yourself is pretty impossible. Keep me updated on your mask building venture!
1) To make your life easier, lay your molded face facing up. Use molding clay and put about 1 inch x 1 inch wall around the base of the face. This will help you use leverage to pry the mold from the plaster at the end.
2) Before you start layering plaster on top, cover your molded face and wall from step 1 with a thin layer of vaseline (I've heard soapy water works or there is a liquid you can get from a ceramic store but for me, vaseline worked great!). Be very thorough and spread nook and cranny.
3) When you prep plaster, be sure to make plenty. You'll want mounds and mounds on top. I think I used about 3 quarts (combined volume) and gave everywhere a good 2-3 inches worth
4) Wait for the plaster to start setting (ie, it just start changing from watery to gooey) before you start putting it on top of the mold.
5) After the plaster has set on top, I used a screw driver to start prying out the inner mold gently along the 1 inch clay wall going in a circular motion. It will start to give slowly and you can just life it out about 1/2 way around.
When you get modeling clay, BUY OIL-BASED CLAY. I can't stress this enough! Otherwise the plaster will stick to it and make things impossible.
The liquid latex I bought (Mehron) is pretty thin and takes about 15 minutes to dry a coat, more in the cracks / crevasses. You need dozens of coats of latex in the thick areas that need support (nose, cheek ridges, upper lip, brow ridge) at 15 minutes a shot. It takes a long time. Give yourself plenty of time.
You can use a drinking straw in your mouth to breathe, since you will be cutting out the mouth anyway. Make sure you hold it loosely in the mouth so as not to distort the face. It's much easier for breathing than the nose.