Advantages of the clay sculpture casting technique for Costuming
I’m about a day away from purchasing a gallon of flex foam for a variety of costume projects. I’ve also had 44 pounds of clay donated to my cause by my favorite second mother. There is some madness in the works alright!
I get a lot questions from people who are unsure how to approach the techniques I’ve demonstrated on this site. I also know that other Halloween resources that link to here often try and find work arounds to recreate some of the costumes without sculpting and casting. I am totally behind the ingenuity people demonstrate in sourcing out other materials to do the job. But I do want to explain though, why I believe clay sculpture with casting is the way to go. Or, you could just watch the special features on any horror movie DVD. Same difference.
The custom fit and detail that a clay model sculpture will provide you with is unparalleled. Clay is very easy to work with, you can change things as you go and immediately see the specific dimensions of your final piece. This allows you to build your prop to fit your body exactly. Also, the style you sculpt with will add another level of customization to your costume. Details really are important.
People who don’t know where to start when using clay for props can use preexisting forms as “bases”, and use the clay to build on to them. For example, if you want to make Kuato (which I hope to do this year) you might start with an old baby doll, and use clay to change the features to a more disfigured look. Hallywood did a great job here. A foam model would fit so nice over that animatronic skeleton.
Another thing to keep in mind is attachment issues. That is, “How will the prop attach to my body or costume?” By thinking about this in advance, you can build directly onto your model the means for attaching the final piece to your costume. Using flex foam, you can set things into it while it’s curing. Like straps, dowels, velcro whatever. It’s much easier than trying to attach those things after the fact.
I guess the part that frightens most people off is the actual plaster casting step that I use. You can use silicone and other stuff for this part, but I’m super cheap and plaster of paris costs like nothing. But regardless, it is not a difficult thing to do. Really, it’s not. I swear.
You just have to think, “Can I do this mold in one part or two?”. Is it something flat-ish and small: a one part mold.
Or is it something bigger, & more 3-D: a two-part mold. Easy.
Get some god damn liquid foam, it rules. Also, you now have mold you can re-use and make multiples of your wicked creation to sell on ebay or whatever. $$$!
I swear, the time and cost trying to source out super specific props and accessories can almost always be made faster and cheaper at home. Plus it’s way more fun and it’ll look way better.
Guaranfuckinteed!
April 6th, 2008 at 12:07 am
That makes sense. It is very helpful to have advice like yours on projects because you’ve been there and you know what works and what doesn’t.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I fell in love with liquid foam this past Halloween copying your costume!
I had a few mishaps removing the clay from the plaster though and ended up having to do 2 molds because one was broken beyond repair.
I also didn’t buy enough liquid foam the first time around so 2 days before Halloween I was freaking out. Luckily, Smooth-On Inc. is only a 30 min drive from me. The costume turned out great, and the foam is super easy to work with.