TheMaskF

Once both halves are mostly dry--this
can be in just an hour or so, fit both
pieces together to see how they now
fit. There should be one way in which
you can slide the negative onto the
life cast that makes it so the two
halve sort of lock together. While
they are set together like this, mark
across the once dike area and onto the
life cast with straight lines (keys)
so that you'll know you have it lined
up properly when you put both halves
together once the latex is cured and
you've poured in the expanding foam.

In any case, once both halves are
clean and you have marked the "locks"
onto the molds. If at all possible,
apply a thin coat of mold release--
available from Burman Industries--to
the areas that are the corners of the
mouth and nostrils. Now you can apply
the liquid latex. THIS coat is more
complex. You can pour it in and again
drain it, but this time, around the
eyes, lips, and the edges of the mold
(where the dike was) you will want to
tap a sponge to make it a thin layer.
It must be relatively THIN in these
areas. Not thick. The rest can be
fairly thick.

Also, apply latex onto the life cast almost all the way back. You'll
want to apply it well beyond where the original clay mold lay. Use
your fingers or a sponge to do this. This coat should not be too
thick either. But make sure it completely covers.

Oh, there's another note that I should have
mentioned much earlier. Are there venting
holes in your life cast?

There MUST be venting holes in it to allow
excess foam to escape when it is expanding.
The best places for these holes are in the
center of the nose and the center of the
chin. We make ours when casting the
lifecast but we understand that folks often
don't know about this step. You can also
drill the holes into it. If the lifecast is
hollow, just drill until the drill comes
out the inside. If it is solid (whew)
you'll have to have the hole drilled all
the way through. This is _very_ important.
When the foam expands it needs someplace to
go otherwise it will lift the two pieces
apart to find a way out and the mask will
no longer fit properly. There is a LOT of
pressure behind that expanding foam so
don't try clamping the two pieces together
without having the holes available. Ed made
that mistake when learning about the
process. But he used his two ton press to
just hold the two pieces together.

It's a good thing he was not in the shop a few moments later. The pressure
needed somewhere to go, right? The whole thing exploded raining plaster
pieces through out the shop at high velocity. Not good. You need those
venting holes for the two part cold foam kits. If you use foam latex--
which is completely different, you don't need it but then supposedly you
have special escape channels at the sides, I think. Foam latex is a whole
different matter and as Ed and I don't use it, we won't go into it here.

Now, when latexing the holes in the lifecast you can usually take a small
straw and suck up latex into it, place the straw into the holes and blow
while pulling the straw out. Do this several time, of course being careful
to not suck the latex up so far it goes into your mouth. Or you can take a
long electronic dusting q-tip and dip it into the latex and brush it all
the way into the holes. You'll have to do this several times to insure
coverage. Once the mold is almost cured you might want to latex the holes
one more time. They dry fairly quicky as their layer is pretty thin. While
applying the latex into the holes, occasionally blow into the holes to make
sure the latex has not clogged them.

Let set. This may take anywhere from a few hours to over a day. Again, you
want to make sure all the latex is set. It should all be the same color.
This time you'll want to lay the negative with the opening up once you've
drained it of as much excess as possible. This will keep the edges from
becoming too thick. If anywhere on the edges or the eyes or the mouth area
is too thick, when the two pieces are pressed together, they will not align
properly. The mask will not come out accurate. You do not want to use a blow
dryer on the latex in this step. Just for the raw pull. If you use a
blowdryer here, improperly, you could cause the latex to split, making a
hole where the foam can infiltrate and this will quite honestly ruin the
whole thing. Meaning your negative will no longer be any good. It is close
to impossible to clean a mold clear of polyeurathane foam. That's why we use
the latex as a "skin" in between. If you were to use a foam latex--which
requires baking in an oven--it would be what is termed "self-skinning." This
is not.

Once the latex is set, take a large make-up brush and brush either Ben-Nye
Transluscent Setting Powder or baby powder at the temples of both negative and
positive, on the eye areas, chin, and all around the sealing edge of both
negative and positive. This will make it so that when you slide the two halves
together, the latex will not grab itself and rip. Unpowdered latex has a habit
of adhering to other unpowdered latex and once together, it's toast. *smile*
You'll have to start over with new layers of latex.

Here's another complex part that used to require some mathematic ability that
I just don't have. Ed does this part, though I think they've simplified the
equation recently.

You may want to invest in a postal scale here. Just a basic one will do. It
doesn't have to be fancy. Just accurate. We use an old one but it's still nice
and accurate.

Here's where you mix up the foam. These steps have to be done VERY quickly.The
foam kicks in within moments once the two chemicals have been mixed together.
Here's where a comedy of errors occurs if one happens.

and are protected under United States and international copyright laws. The text and images may not be reproduced,

copied, stored or manipulated without the written permission of Kishma Danielle. Website design stolen from Caliban.