Creating a mould out of silicon

 Creating a mould 

The next step was to create a mould out of the sculpts. The first thing you need to do is create 'flashing' around your sculpts. This will act as a wall so that when you are creating the actual prosthetics, you have material to blend. 

Once you have added the flashing, you then need to add a wall around your prosthetics so that you have something to fill with the silicon. We used wooden tongue depressors and hot glue. You need to ensure that there are no gaps in your wall as otherwise, the silicon will leak and not create the mould as desired. 

Once you have created the wall and gone around all of the edges with the hot glue to make sure it will be water-tight, you can then mix your substances to create the mould. To do this, you will need Silicon and catalyst mixed at a 10:1 ratio, 10 being the silicon and 1 being the catalyst. The catalyst will react with the silicon creating a harder, flexible substance. 

Once you have carefully mixed your silicon, ensuring that when you are doing so, you are keeping all the tools and pots you have used labelled to ensure you are not contaminating either substance with the other, you can then pour it into your mould with the wall you have created. 

I poured the silicon from a height and allowed it to completely fill the mould to the top. Be careful not to over fill as this can ruin the shape and integrity of the mould if it were to over-flow. Once you have done this, you can allow your mould to set. Once it has completely set, you can remove it using acetone to break down the hot glue and allow for a quick release of your mould. I then tidied up the edges of my mould with a scalpel to keep it neat and cleaned out the remainder of the clay in the small details of my prosthetic sculpts. 

This was my final result. 

References:

Simpson, L. (Unpublished) Silicon Pouring. [Photograph].