the best engineers i have worked with were the
"hands-on" guys.
just saying, glad to see you're going for it.
for the face mask, i would use plaster of paris to
make the first negative impression of your face.
to explain the terminology, if you poured wax
into the plaster of paris impression, and were
able to somehow extract the wax piece, that piece
would be a "positive" - it would look like you.
i suggest having a friend with some tools - like
a hammer - to help get your face out of the
plaster of paris, in case you get stuck. a cool-
headed friend with good aim.
basically, rig a bucket with an airtube, pour in
the wet plaster of paris until it's about an inch
below the top of the air-tube, do the proverbial
muff-dive so that part of your face is embedded
in the plaster of paris, wait 3 minutes - the extra
PoP in a bucket on the side will get hard about the
same time if it's a comparable thickness. when
the PoP is hard, you've made your impression.
you would need to create a way to keep the PoP
away from your teeth and lips. it has the potential
to BE LIKE SUPER-GLUE - you wouldn't plunge your
face into some drying super-glue. if it gets around
your teeth, you could end up with a choice between
suffocating and ripping out a few teeth.
one note - there are several ways to hurt yourself
doing this.
* PoP is Calcium Carbonate. in small amounts,
good for the plants. BUT the dust is NOT good to
breathe.
* the PoP heats up enough that you could burn
yourself. i suggest using a layer of cloth and a layer
of plastic (with a hole in them, for the breathing tube) -
the layer of plastic goes against the PoP, the cloth
(terry cloth, like an old gym towel) goes against
your face
* let's say a normal jello mold has "positive draft".
if it had negative draft, it would be hard to break the
jello out of the mold. it would break apart in the process
of extracting it from the mold. if you stick your face in
past a certain point, it might be like when you get a mold
for a mouthpiece at the dentist and they're pulling hard
and you start wondering if it's going to take a few teeth
with it - except, much worse.
please don't create a "call the fire department" situation.
take it a step at a time. don't try & scrimp on PoP.
can we see some pictures ?
🙂
- - -
Will this happen with the polystyrene?
* depends how hot you have it. that's the
"art" part of it. yes, it could create a "hell-raiser"
look (you know that movie hell-raiser ?)
Also, you seem like you've done this before, so I'll ask a preference question
Would you suggest using a wood frame or the aluminum frame for the plastic heating mount?
* i would use wood, but just because i'm good with
wood (for a half-blind person).
hmm ... wood & heating in the same sentence ... wood
can burn ... need to see pictures.
Where can I get a sheet of polystyrene if this works?
Think I can order it through the Ace Hardware I work at?
* it has been a while. most industrial areas have one or
more large plastics suppliers where its like going to Ross
Dress for Less except ... all plastics, including my favorite,
Torlon (polyamideimide, engineering superplastic, they made
a car engine out of it as a demo, good to 450+ F, not
recommending it, just going off on a tangent.)
and there's always Tap Plastics.
http://www.tapplastics.com/
it sounds like you're developing some enthusiasm for
this kind of work. Ace hardware is expensive for more
than a small sheet of most engineering materials.
there's got to be an industrial supplier available to you.
one other option is to melt down a bunch of polystyrene
objects, and then pour them on a flat sheet of, for example,
Teflon (4 feet by 4 feet), or concrete covered with aluminum
foil. again, i'm exactly suggesting that, just pointing out options.
i have a few scars on my body (well, maybe several); my
stepfather left part of his finger inside the Ford factory. the
point being, if you're playing with a vacuum and Plaster of Paris,
it's a Lot like a martial art, an extreme sport, like handling a
loaded gun. you're using the Forces of Nature to shape
something interesting; make sure you don't get caught in
the cross-fire.
there's a glass artist in Seattle missing an eye who i think
would agree with this advice.
please proceed VERY cautiously.
P.S. regarding my own experience - i have a lot of experience
with the "industrial arts", including Plaster of Paris, but i have
never done a face mold.
one option is to get the head off a mannequin dummy, or
make a head using a plastic Halloween mask and some filler
material, to double, triple, and quadruple check your procedure
before doing it live.
might be fun if your assistant had a video camera, this could
be a classic Youtube video.
P.S. #2 before you do the Live mold, where you use your
own flesh, it would be good to watch a professional in action.
maybe you could dig up a local artist who has done this
kind of work.
P.S. #3 if you do work like this in your living place, an
old girlfriend might walk in and say, "i could never live here".
it's very easy to get so caught up in the excitement of making
stuff that you forget about the human factors of your own
living space.
P.S. #4 if you live in rented space, this kind of work has the
potential to guarantee that you will not get your rent deposit
back.
