Silicones for special effects molds: complete guide

In television productions, full body replicas, limbs, busts, faces or different sections are often required. They can also be needed for art exhibitions, theatre productions, theme parks and any kind of event where you want to add a distinctive character.

Making a silicona mold for special effects reproductions is very straightforward, and at Feroca we're going to show you the best way to do it. The key step is choosing the ideal material for your mold. In this case, and as you might expect, we'll be using silicona for Life Cast.

On our website you'll find a wide range of FX materials to choose from depending on your project or intended use. In this article we'll tell you more about the Body Silk-Cast, the ideal silicona for special effects.

Silicona for life cast: Everything you need to know

Before we give you more information about the silicona for Life Cast, we want to give you a brief safety warning. Although these products are formulated to be applied directly to the skin and remain in contact with it, it's always important to do an allergy test beforehand, in case the model is allergic to a specific component.

At Feroca we recommend that you do a small allergy test with the product on the wrist area to make sure there won't be any problems.

Casting from life is also known as Life Casting, and the most widely used material for this is silicona. The great thing about silicona is that it's not a temporary mold material — you can pull reproductions in almost any type of material, whether more rigid or flexible, and you can make a huge number of reproductions from a single mold.

Silicona for Life Cast is specially designed for skin, as it is a platinum silicona. In addition, it doesn't stick to body hair and can also be applied to the face: eyelashes, eyebrows… with no risk of sticking.

What's important about this silicona is that it has two components: part A and part B. These components are slightly viscous, which is an advantage when it comes to preventing the material from running too much on the model, especially when working on the face area. You need to use equal amounts of each component.

The silicona Life Cast mold requires a counter-mold, and at Feroca we recommend using plaster so that when you apply the copy it doesn't come out deformed and turns out perfect.

Once you have equal amounts of each component, pour one over the other and mix using a wooden spatula or tongue depressor. The mixing tool must be wooden, as platinum siliconas cannot come into contact with certain materials such as metal, latex, polyester…

Now that you have your mixture ready, what's the next step? Keep reading!

Make your own silicona mold and never stop creating

Once your mixture is ready, you need to apply the product to the skin, and when it reaches the tacky stage (that is, when you touch it and it feels sticky but doesn't transfer) that's the ideal moment to start adding the plaster bandages to create the counter-mold that we mentioned earlier, which you'll need when making all the reproductions you want.

On our website you'll also find wider bandages specifically designed for making plaster counter-molds.

When making the mold, it's recommended to take small amounts and spread them out very well so that it registers and penetrates all the recesses properly. The key is to use a small amount of product to build up the correct shape gradually. You can apply the mixture to the skin either by hand or with a tongue depressor.

A tip from Feroca: if you're applying it to a person, make sure the product isn't too cold so that the skin doesn't come up in goosebumps.

Once you've applied all the product properly, you'll need to wait about 20 minutes for the silicona to be ready so you can remove it. There's no need to use a release agent, as this is a silicona that releases very easily, and applying a release agent will cause it to lose its ability to capture skin detail, meaning the silicona mold for reproductions won't turn out as precise.

So how do you achieve special effects with these silicona molds? Keep reading

Silicona molds for special effects reproductions

Since the silicona for the mold is applied directly to the skin, your special effects copies will need a final touch using two key elements: makeup and/or paint.

If you're already familiar with Feroca and have read some of our other articles, you'll know that we have different types of silicona. Well, you can make your mold on your own skin or on your model's skin using the silicona for Life Cast and from there pull reproductions using another type of silicona (which will be ultra-flexible), adding different pigments and finishing them with makeup to achieve that 'special effect' you were looking for.

For example, adding different decorative elements that look like blood, making incisions, cuts, scabs, reptile skin, protrusions…

The difference between making molds with this silicona versus alginato is that with the Body Silk-Cast you can reproduce a large number of copies in almost any material, plus it has the added advantage of capturing fine detail.

Video tutorial: how to make special effects molds

In this explanatory video we'll show you how to carry out the step-by-step process of making a special effects mold.

The best silicones for special effects are at Feroca

At Feroca we have the best selection of silicones for Life Cast with which you can produce many silicona copies and experiment with makeup to create all kinds of special effects.

Silicones for making special effects molds are the best way to achieve highly realistic copies.

Whether you're studying, working in television or character makeup and want to learn new techniques to impress your clients, or simply want to experiment and try new things, platinum silicones for Life Cast are the best way to do it.

While you're having fun, you can learn and create new work that helps you grow professionally or simply develop new skills.

Want to know a little more about silicona for special effects? You can get in touch with us and we'll be happy to walk you through all the features of this product in greater detail.

Let your imagination run wild with Feroca's molding products!

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