Lulu - Casting the Body


I am using DragonSkin Silicone which is an addition / platinum cure silicone. It is prepared by mixing two parts together, both are quite viscous and translucent / colourless. This is an industry standard silicone and is quite tough when its cured but holds details well. 

I've done two colour tests, one with oil paints and one with silicone pigments. The picture above shows the oil paint test. One side is opaque white which I'll use for the boot buttons and one is various shades of blue which I'll use for the boots. I'm trying to match a sheer fabric I've round for Lulu's dress. One issue with using oil paints or other pigments is that its advisable to use less than 5% to colour the silicone or it may effect its curing. 


 I'm wearing gloves and mixing with a wooden spatula.
 Its harder to mix such a small amount and still get the ratio correct so its better to weigh it as you go on an accurate scale. 
I like how the colours have turned out and they're a close match to the dress. Unfortunately the darker two didn't set well at all and were still sticky after three days.

















Here I am using silicone pigment colours instead. The blue is slightly different so I've added a tiny bit of black, red and white to achieve a similar colour. They're quite expensive but you need a very very small amount, just a small smear on the cocktail stick is often enough. Its better to start out by adding a very small amount then adding more if you need to. You have about 25 minutes working time with this version of Dragonskin.




To cast the boots I have first added a tiny little amount of white coloured silicone into each boot button with a cocktail stick. It overflows onto the boot a little bit but is thick enough to stay in place with a little encouragement. I have let this set for 5 hours and then trimmed the set silicone so that it is only in the buttons. 

Next I have mixed up a batch of blue and given the boots two coats of blue silicone with a paint brush, letting it cure for 5 hours between each coat. Because the white is set it won't mix colours and should stick to itself. It does pool slightly in the heel of the boot but there should be room for this around the armature. 



The moulds then had two coats of flesh coloured silicone. I have trimmed away the overflowing silicone around the edges of the body with a scalpel so that it doesn't stop the mould being pressed together.

Next the armature is placed into one half of the mould, making sure it lines up and sits flush and more flesh coloured silicone is added to fill up each mould half with some overflow. The two halves are then quickly sandwiched together and then firmly clamped and left to cure for 5 hours. 


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