Creating a Three-Dimensional Stage Make-up

These are my personal notes and recordings of the process I used to create a three-dimensional makeup for a stage production of Dracula.  I'm playing the title character in this production and I wanted to create a foam latex prosthetic makeup for the character while he is in his old-age state.

And if there are any litigious idiots reading this... DISCLAIMER: These processes involve the use of dangerous chemicals, which may be harmful or fatal.  The processes documented herein should be left to qualified professionals.  Meh.

September 2, 2002

My references for the following processes are the following two books, which are worth their weight in gold: Techniques of Three-Dimensional Makeup, by Lee Baygan, and Stage Makeup, by Richard Corson.  The Baygan book seems to be out-of-print but maybe Amazon.com can rustle one up for you; it's an excellent, excellent introduction to this process.



Set up your studio.  Since I live in San Francisco, a field trip to Kryolan was required.  Kryolan sells an alginate product called Magicast that I used as the base of the life cast.  Lots of old makeup, space for writing notes, measuring cups, bald cap and spirit gum.  We're going to make a big happy mess, so we need to be in a space where that's okay.

To cradle the alginate negative, we used an old mail carrier lined with newspaper.

Two rolls of Durashell plaster bandages cut into eight strips of eight, ten, and twelve inches, with a few smaller pieces left over for my nose.

Pre-measured Magicast alginate and water, at 71 degrees Fahrenheit.  I used 2 1/4 cups of water and 2 cups of alginate, which seemed to be the correct amount for the face and neck.  It took us two attempts to get this mix right.  The first mix used 60 degree Fahrenheit water and around 2 1/2 cups of water, and we got soup, not alginate.

The initial coating of alginate.  I'm wearing a cheap bald cap, spirit-gummed to the sides of my face.  I breathe through my nose for about five minutes while the alginate sets.  It tends to run up my nose... so I just blow out quickly when the air holes start to close.  

The alginate is very soft, like egg whites, and I could open my mouth now and ruin the alginate cast.  

Next layer is the Durashell plaster bandages.  Between the two layers, we spread a little Poli Grip in order to adhere the alginate to the plaster bandages.  We oversoaked the bandages a little, so they took about twenty minutes to dry.

I lean forward and wrinkle my facial muscles and the cast comes off in one piece. Ahhh... I can breathe normally again...

The negative mould, with a 1/8" coating of Ultracal plaster in it.  I applied this with a thin brush in order to try to minimize air bubbles in the plaster surface.  The fan helps to speed the drying.  I let this layer become tacky before adding another coat.

From another angle.  This is actually a negative mould.  The light reflection makes the negative look like a positive.

I fill the mould completely with plaster and cotton towels.  An hour later, and the mould has started to cool.  I tear off the bandages and alginate before it cools completely.  Some air bubbles are present, and the towel is showing through on the left side of the face, but we can repair these problems with more plaster and a matte knife.

After removing the blotches of plaster caused by air bubbles, we have a first positive cast.

Original versus the duplicate. It took about five hours to make this life cast today.