Full Head Cast Demonstration

HEALTH and SAFETY!

It is really important that you are serious when you are doing a lifecast! do not mess around. keep it professional.

First time doing a head cast- 4 people reccommended

1 person in charge (take charge of nose area)
2 people to apply bandage and algenate
and one to handle prep and carry materials.

Never put anything up the nose ie. straws et.

and it is not reccmommended to cover nose first and ask model to breathe out! (although some industry professionals do do this, it can be highly dangerous.)

Key to good lifecast is good COMMUNICATION with your team and model. and also good PREPORATION because you want the lifecast to run smoothly.

The model is priority and they are the most important person in the room. Their health and safety is paramount.

Having a full head cast can sometimes be stressful to people keep an eye on their body language and open communication.

When lifecasting your model, you should anticipate needing more of their form than necessary. IE. you should mould the ears, and come right down onto the neck.

Try and keep as calm as possible. If things go wrong, you can sort it out, try not to panic the model.

Preporation!

3 buckets of warm water
a bucket for mixing
all the plaster bandage prepared into strips
algenate / life cast silicone
Nivea hand cream
Aquacolour- to draw hairline on the baldcap.

Algenates to not use- fibregel (algenate with flock-can be very itchy)

and dental algenate (is often minty- and will burn eyes).

As a mould release in industry Nivea hand cream is being used more and more in place of vaseline.

Vaseline can be greasy and slippery. Nivea hand cream needs to be put of the back of the neck over the small hairs, eyebrows, eyelashes and the bald cap. It also does not affect the algenate like vaseline does.

Tape

- medical tape to zinc oxide tape. to tape bin liner to model.

Don't wear good clothes because you won't be able to get the algenate out.

METHOD

Apply bald cap, cut out ears if desired.
Take reference images. and measurements! This is to keep a reference when cleaning up the lifecast.
Mark hairline with water based makeup/ aquacolour to transfer the hairline.

For this lifecast the back of the head will be recorded with plaster bandage and the front of the head/ face will be recorded with algenate. This is often how it would be done in industry becaise there is no need to have the detail of the back of the head, you only need the form.

Apply mould release (Nivea) to model.

BACK HALF

When applying plaster bandage onto the back of the head, you need to make sure that the bandage does not come too far forward, over the head and the shoulders, because it will create an undercut and will be hard to remove.
Fold the plaster bandage 4 ways, for ultimate thickness.
Ttart with the top of the head and round the back of the ears, and down round the back of the neck.
Keep the front edge as neat and tidy as possible, because this will be where the algenate meets the plaster and creat the seam.
Try and get the plaster as smoothed in as possible and tight to the model.

After 2 layers of plaster bandage, you apply "strengthening ropes" which are twisted strips of plaster bandage.

- when using plaster bandage make sure it is good quality. - Branded Modroc is probably the best type. because the cheap stuff may not set properly and may not stick to itself.

Stregthening rope - placed down the back of the head, and round the front edge. - try and keep the headcast symmetrical for ultimate accuracy.

FRONT HALF

Before adding the algenate onto the front half of the lifecast, apply some more mould release onto the seam (front edge) of the plaster bandage, where the algenate will meet the plaster.
Mix more algenate than you will need (about a bag and a half will be good) just incase, becasue you dont want to be running around whilst your model is under.
A good mix for the algenate is not too thick or not too runny, a consistency like porridge.
With the ears- push the algenate gently into the the ear, not too forcefully.
communicate with your model all the time! especially at this point in time.
Leave the nose until last.

Cleaning up the cast

Using a blunt xacto knife or a spatula, trim the excess algenate off the cast, where the front meets the plaster bandage back.

Reinforcing the front.

Add more mould release onto the leading edge of the plaster badage again, before reinforcing the front with plaster bandage.
Massage the first layer of plaster into the surface of the algenate to get a more acurate lifecast.
leave the septem until last.
Add strengthening rope to the front to f the cast just as the same as the back.

Put registration marks on the mould, so that when you put it back together it can be lined up and fitted tight.

Removing the Lifecast

make sure the room is darkish / turn the lights off so that the model is not blinded too much when the cast comes off.
often the back of the lifecast will come off first , but not always.
you should not force the lifecast, let it come away where it wants. (work with it).
when taking off the front of the cast, pull off one side first, release one ear and peel it off from left to right.

Final Touches to the cast in preporation for filling the mould

superglue the nosestrils, just the outside of the algenate.
mix up some very thick algenate, and force it up the nostrils from the ouside, so it block the nose up and forms indentations of he nostril area.
once set, trim off all excess.

- when using silicone you need to use a plastic bald cap instead of a latex one, because latex inhibits the curing of silcone.

1kilo for front head cast

2 kilos for full head cast

Benefits of using silicone rather that algenate

-does not stick to hair (so good with people with beards)

- can fibreglass straight into the lifecast.

Negatives of using silicone rather than algenate

- more expensive

- if fibreglassing straight into the lifecast - it is then harder to clean up the cast.

Shellac- the plaster bandage if you want to fibreglass straight into the plaster bandage.

Alternative Methods for Headcasting

Modelling for a Headcast

Using Silicone to Lifecast

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Fig. 4.1

First Time Full Head Casting

More Research

I assissted Clare with the life cast of her model Martin hanna. I am really glad i did so because i learnt a lot from the process. Also because i am not doing a full head cast for my makeup i wanted to have a practice at it.

Also with this ligecast we used silicone so clare could fibreglass straight into the cast instead of making a plaster core and making a silicone mould of that.

I have never used the lifecast silcone before but i am glad, i prefered it to algenate, because of the time you had to do it, you and how you can always make up more silicone to stick to the first layer. However i know that i can not rely on it because algenate is used more widely in industry.

Another thing to note was that he was quite a big guy and he moved around a little, which disrupted the edges of the mould. it is one of tose things that is really hard to notice whilst you are lifecasting. I think picking up on things like that will come with practice.

If your model has long hair you could wither wrap it to the head under the bald cap or pull it through the bald cap and wrap it in cling film or tin foil. so that you get a true cast of the head with the plaster and algenate. when it comes to making the plaster core. do not forget to plug this hole!

When Pete asked for volunteers to lifecast for a demonstration, i jumped at the opportunity. I had never been fully head casted before and i really wanted to try it because i think it is important for a makeup/prosthetics artist to feel what these processed feel like to your model/actor before you lifecast them too. It helps with comforting them and givign them direction whilst you are applying the cast. I also happen to really enjoy being lifecasted. i find it really relaxing.

I was a little surprised when this cast came out because i don't think it looks like me at all. However i am excited to clean it up over summer and have my own cast to sculpt onto.