Making a latex batgirl mask and other accessories.?

I am going to get a head start on my halloween costume. A couple questions...





Can you add a colorant right into the latex? If so what do I use, and how much? Or is it best to paint it? If I paint it, can I just use a latex based paint or something cheap?





How much latex should I purchase? I have 2 16 fl oz things or this stuff





http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayProductPage?productNum=gc0514





I'm making the mask, spikes on the arms, and body armor in latex, how much more latex will I need?





For the lifecast, can I just use plaster gause





http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayProductPage?productNum=gc0027





It doesn't need extreme detail, just be able to give me the general shape of my head and torso for the mask and armor. Will it be strong enough to be used as a mold and filled with plaster?


I know Pottery Plaster #1 is best for the mold that I fill with latex. Can I just use Plaster of Paris for the life cast? How much of plaster will I need?





Thanks guys!Making a latex batgirl mask and other accessories.?
Latex Mold Making below;


http://www.geocities.com/fredaldous/SF10鈥?/a>


http://www.fursuit.info/25applin.htm


HOW TO COLOUR LATEX ?.below;


http://home.iprimus.com.au/elvis71/Pages鈥?/a>


http://members.fortunecity.com/gknowles/鈥?/a>


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


http://www.fxwarehouse.info/make_mask.sh鈥?/a>


http://www.norcostco.com/mask.htm


http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?t鈥?/a>


http://www.latexmaskcentral.com/Wang.php


http://www.monstermakers.com/maskbook.ht鈥?/a>


http://www.sylak.com/howtofly.htm


http://laura.moncur.org/archives/2006/10鈥?/a>


http://www.milieux.com/costume/costume2.鈥?/a>


http://ca.search.yahoo.com/search?ei=UTF鈥?/a>


http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/MainPa鈥?/a>


http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php鈥?/a>


http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?鈥?/a>


http://www.rondalarue.com/PAGES/MASK%20P鈥?/a>


making Medieval crests


http://www.rondalarue.com/PAGES/MASK%20P鈥?/a>


http://www.planetofthegeeks.com/workbenc鈥?/a>


http://www.rebelscum.com/stormtrooperhel鈥?/a>


http://www.firstimpressionsmolds.com/ind鈥?/a>


http://www.nicolemagne.com/blog/?cat=5


http://ca.search.yahoo.com/search?p=Halo鈥?/a>


Boo-tiful Halloween Masks


https://www.spirithalloween.com/index.cf鈥?/a>


http://ca.search.yahoo.com/search?p=Hall鈥?/a>


Water based colour pigment for cold curing liquid latex rubber. Highly concentrated. Small amounts only, are needed to give good pigmentation. on site below;


http://www.lrpstore.com/product.asp?P_ID鈥?/a>


About Face and Body Casting:


http://www.fxsupply.com/life_casting/cas鈥?/a>


HOW TO MAKE A LIFE MASK!


http://www.rondalarue.com/PAGES/MASK%20P鈥?/a>


http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/p/plaster.h鈥?/a>


http://www.savoirfaire.ca/archive/2_reci鈥?/a>


This page is to provide information on the process of Life casting, this is taken from our own experiences. There are many other effective techniques and products that will work. We will continue to add information to this page as the work progresses. Please send us your comments or suggestions on our efforts to provide informative information.


http://www.bronzefoundry.com/life_cast.h鈥?/a>


http://www.tron-sector.com/articles/arti鈥?/a>


On this site below is the product that you purchased - Mold Builder - Liquid Latex Rubber;


http://wolfstone.halloweenhost.com/Hallo鈥?/a>


20 feet2 plaster strips


Artist's grade plaster of paris (cotton gauze impregnated with plaster). This is enough to cast full torso or just belly and hands. Additional plaster can be purchased in rolls of 5 feet2 if you decide to create a more detailed cast.


http://www.made2fit.ca/products.html


http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displ鈥?/a>


Rigid Wrap!! from Q%26amp;A below;


http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/ind鈥?/a>


http://ca.search.yahoo.com/search?p=+Pla鈥?/a>


Greek and Roman Helmets


The helmets I have made have been constructed of paper mach茅.


Basic formula is as follows:


Cut about 30 long strips of heavy construction paper.


Arrange 16 of the strips in a circular pattern where the center of all strips coincide.


Lock down the center by any means possible.


Pull the ends of the paper strips down to form a dome.


Use the remaining paper strips to form a cross-hatch pattern. This creates the helmet structure.


Cut up a handful of newspaper strips. (Sunday comic pages are often heavier than ordinary newspaper stock.)


Dip in a solution of water and wall-paper paste.


Cover the helmet with newspaper strips.


When dry, fill in any indentations and cover again.


After you are satisfied with the basic shape, you can cut the eye/nose/mouth holes and then add the extra touches.





An additional technique I've found that works great is using speckling paste (the indoor plaster for filling in holes) to smooth out the helmet. You end up with a very smooth, very strong accessory -- it just looks fantastic.


http://www.talisweb.com/halloween/access鈥?/a>


Other great sites for you to lok hrough are below;


http://familycrafts.about.com/od/element鈥?/a>


http://www.papiermache.co.uk/


http://www.papiermache.co.uk/exec/cms-do鈥?/a>


http://ca.search.yahoo.com/search?p=inst鈥?/a>


http://www.ask.com/web?q=free+instructio鈥?/a>


http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en%26amp;q=free鈥?/a>


http://www.misterart.com/store/browse/00鈥?/a>


Remember to put vaseline around your hairline and insert straws when you make your mask to be able to breathe and remove the casting material.


Hope this helps,


Cheers!Making a latex batgirl mask and other accessories.?
You can get everything you need from the Monster Makers web site. You'll probably need two quarts of latex, (At least)





First sculpt out of oil based clay and then make plaster molds. Pour in the latex (Slowly, less chance of air bubbles) and let sit for about 20 minutes (For the small things.). For the cowl you can pour the latex in and work it around by constantly moving the mold. Turn it slowly (The air bubble thing again.) For the body parts you can pour it in then brush it about to make it even then build it up in layers from there.





You'll want to use alginate for the life cast. Plaster heats up when it dries so use alginate then back it with plaster. When the alginate sets you'll have a negative so mix up more plaster and pour it into the alginate to make a positive to sculpt on.When you make you're molds, put down your first layer of plaster and build it out unilt it smooths out enough to add burlap. Put the burlap in plaster and put it on the mold then add more plaster. This will strengthen the mold.





You can tint the latex which with what your doing will probably be best. You can always paint in details. Usually when I paint latex I spray it down with 3m Super adhesive then paint. It helps the paint adhear better.





Since this will be a one shot deal, (I'm guessing) you can use plaster of paris for everything. Normally you use the other if your making multiple castings. But you could still get two or three from regular plaster before it starts to break down to much.





This is kinda a nut shell answer just to give you an idea of what you're looking at. The Monster Makers (I know I keep bringing them up but I've put a few orders in and have always had quick delivery and they know their stuff.) also has tutorials on how to do things as well. You can also check out the Monster List of Halloween Projects.





Hope this helps