# Advice Making the Posture Collar from "The Cell"



## Nefertari (Nov 17, 2008)

Hi, firstly let me thank you all, I have been browsing this forum and others, reading up on the tutorials and looking at other peoples work, thanks to that, last month I sculpted and cast (in latex) a Bubblehead Nurse mask from the Silent Hill movie. It came out very well, I made mistakes but have solved them and am going to re cast the mask again. So thank you all for your indirect help.

I have recently gotten into model making, I am a designer/dressmaker/artist etc and I started with latex first and had good results, now I am starting a new project. I would like to sculpt, mold and cast the Posture Collar worn by J'lo in the film "the Cell"

A guy from a company called Bounty Hardware is the only one I know of who has done this replica and some of his pictures of the collar can be found here. http://www.bountyhardware.com/index2.html

A picture of the original as worn in the film can be found here:
http://www.wallpaperbase.com/wallpapers/movie/thecell/the_cell_2.jpg
http://www.lebleb.com/images/star_galeri/Jennifer Lopez/The Cell.jpg

It looks like rigid plastic to me, but I would like to cast it in a semi rigid material if possible so that I can at least flex it a little to get it on and to move my neck (only a "little though, enough to get the opening where the clasp connecting piece is, over the width of my neck with it returning to it's original shape)

Although I will settle for rigid material if thats the only way to cast it, aslong as it won't break. Also I would like your opinion on the clasp closing at the rear of the collar, I've been destroying my brain trying to figure out a quick and easy way to creat a clasping mechanism for it. It's clear to me that there is some sort of mechanism on the rear of the collar that fastens it (the bounty hardware pics) but can't figure out how.

I want the collar to be able to be strapped and pulled via the ring at the back without the closure panel coming off, or the prop breaking, so things like velcro or rotating clasps don'tseem like an idea to me.

What sort of material would you suggest for making the mold and casting thefinal piece? I spoke to TOMPS and a nice chap told me that polyurethane's would be to brittle, foams would be not a good idea if I'm wearing it against my skin (that I would have to coat it in a layer of latex for protection), silicones would not be suitable and that his best advice would be to use GRP and add a flexing additive. I had a look at the fibreglass method but there is very little information regarding casting with it and making a semi flexible prop.

I don't really know what material I should use for the best effect.

I will be sculpting out of water based clay because of the nature of the piece, it is hollow, therefore I need air drying clay to be able to remove the clay from the plaster without it deforming. Or do you have a better suggestion as to how to create the sculpt? I will be lifecasting my upper torso in mod roc plaster for ease and speed. Also I want to pigment it, one in white, black, purple and red.

Basically, long story short, I'd like (I want more than anything for years hehehe) to cast this collar for a fetish event next month on the 20th December. I'd like it to flex a teeny bit, but otherwise be failry stiff (you can guess how stiff the collar will be by just looking at it, the purpose of it is pretty clear) and I'd like to colour the final piece.

My sincere thanks for all that read and help me create something beautiful to me (and for my university portfolio application )


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## Nefertari (Nov 17, 2008)

Hmm, seems I got the linkage wrong, the page for the pictures of the Poster Collar can be found (hopefully) here

http://www.bountyhardware.com/cell.html

Also, is there an edit post feature? I can't find it.


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