Silicone Props
Silicone Props, Medical Simulators, Novelties, and Doll Fabrication
Platinum silicones must be cast into compatible mold materials. Important! Casting Platinum formula silicone into molds that are not compatible will result in cure inhibition (silicone won't cure solid). When in doubt about a specific mold material, perform a small test cure to ensure compatibility. In this video we discuss compatible mold materials and release agents for casting platinum silicones.
Coloring or pigmenting silicone. In this video we explain the basic use of TC-5110 Platinum silicone. 5110 is a low viscosity "skin" silicone that may be used for casting body parts, FX skins, medical simulators, and to make molds of delicate objects with deep undercuts. In this video we color 5110 with silicone pigment and flocking.
A common problem in the silicone prop world is filling silicone skins with low-cost Polyurethane foam. A flexible foam is a great way to "back" a silicone skin, but foam does not want to stick to silicone. In this next video we show how to thicken 5110 for brushed-on application and how to bond foam to the skin. We thicken 5110 with Thixo. The 5110 was pigmented to a fair flesh tone using silicone pigments and flocking. We used TC-266 Variable Density flexible foam to back the skin. Cotton fibers were used to connect the two.
In the next video we explain painting techniques using SAM-32, OSS, and Silicone Pigments. This is an easy way to create realistic fleshtones on silicone dolls, medical simulators, silicone masks, and special effects props.
Our new Skin Cast Silicones are an easy and cost-effective way to produce realistic silicone skins. These translucent silicones are great for casting dolls, medical simulators, novelties, and SPFX props.
In the next tutorial we show how to cast a very soft and squishy silicone heart from a resin mold. We used ArtKast resin for the mold and pigmented Skin Cast Silicone for the Heart.
Skin Cast Gel With an Encapsulating Layer
In this tutorial we use the very soft Silicone, Skin Cast Gel, to make a soft, realistic heart prop. Because Skin Cast Gel is VERY soft, we first brushed a layer firmer silicone into the ArtKast resin mold. This allows for very realistic body parts to be made.
Prosthetic Additive 1 may also be added to Skin Cast Formulas to simulate very realistic skins and other organic tissues. In this tutorial we use a thin membrane of Skin Cast 0010 and then back fill it with Deadened Skin Cast. This results in a very soft silicone part and may be used to simulated breast tissue in medical simulators.
Creating A Master Mold
In this next tutorial we show how to make a master mold (a mold of a mold) of a resin mold allowing that resin mold to be reproduced many times. We used Supralease PTR to release our resin mold and then molded it with TC-5140 silicone. Defects were corrected with Protolina modeling clay.
Resin molds, such as epoxy or urethane resin, are inexpensive mold making options for silicone casting. This method works with our ArtKast resin and PolyFiber.
Resin block mold may also be used for casting silicone. In the following video we explain a method for making EasyFlo 60 block molds that may be used for casting SkinCast silicones or PlatSil Gels. This is a great way to reproduce silicone medical simulators or adult novelties.
In-Mold Painting With Silicone
In this tutorial we show techniques for painting silicone in the mold to reduce painting required after demolding and also to preserve skin texture. We released our EasyFlo 60 mold (made in a previous video) with a light spray of 2500 mold release. We the cast a Skin Cast OO10 encapsulating layer followed by a solid Skin Cast OOO5 pour. We used pigment and flocking that can be found here.
Large skins for medical simulators, SPFX, and Tattoo practice can be made using thickened resin. In this video we use ArtKast White thickened with Polyfiber to make a hard, tough resin mold for reproducing silicone skins with a soft foam core.
The final skin could be thickened 5110F or 5130F silicone. These formulas can be thickened with our Thixo additive. Silicone Pigment can be added for additional realism.
In this next video we explain how to make resin eye forms for use in silicone busts. We use silicone to mold a glass eye form and produce resin cast eye forms with TC-800 casting resin. The final silicone head was cast with a silicone skin and a core of soft foam. Scroll down the page to see the complete process in the "Bride of BITY" videos.
Mixing realistic silicone flesh tones is an important skill. To get the most realistic flesh tone possible we recommend a combination of silicone pigments and flocking added to our PlatSil Gels. In the next video we explain the intrinsic coloring process for PlatSil Gels.
To add additional realism to your cast and painted silicone part, hair may also be "punched" or glued onto a cast part. In this tutorial we show several ways of applying hair including our hair punching needles.
In this next video we mold a Monster Clay "Bride of BITY" sculpt using Hydrocal. We used White Modeling Clay for the dividing wall.
Once our Hydrocal Mold was made, we were ready to cast a positive with PlatSil Gel-10 and PolyFoam. We released the mold with Mold Soap.
Once our Bride of BITY was cast, she was ready for paint. We painted her with more Gel-10 pigmented with our silicone pigments and thinned for airbrushing with our solvent thinner. Naptha may also be used for thinning Gel-10.
Important!!! Use a respirator and work in a very well ventilated area when painting with solvents!