# Need advice on how to make animal prosthetics.



## Howlinmadjack (Jul 20, 2009)

For this years haunt/Halloween party, I'm thinking of making it a gene splicing theme. I was hoping to make some prosthetics for the faces of the people who are going to be out front for the haunt. Afterward were going to throw a Halloween bash, and thought it would be cool to do a gene splicing type of performance with the characters. the problem is I don't have much experience with this type of thing. So I figured someone here has to have some kind of knowledge on where to start. Some basic questions are: What type of material is needed to make the appliances, that's comfortable and somewhat easy to work with. Do I need to have the persons facial dimensions to make the pieces, or are they adjustable. How much time should I allow for each piece so I can make enough of them so I can have an effective haunt. How comfortable are they to work with, (I've worked with store bought appliances before, and have had mixed results.) I don't want my people to be completely uncomfortable, or fidgeting with the appliances. I hope some of ya'll can give me some advice, becuase everything I've come up with online is super expensive to make, and/or just as complicated to make due to all the combining of compounds, and speacialty tools required to properly mix all the ingredients. Any advice ya'll can give me would be greatly appreciated!!


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## GrimmEverafter (Feb 2, 2011)

If you want to make the absolute best results for a gene splice look, prosthetics are definitely a must. You can get them in either latex or silicone generically, so they might fit different faces, or you can make them yourself. It might be a bit pricey to make facial prosthetics by hand, but the results may be better if you want a certain sort of look. To do it very cheaply, a bit of makeup work to give someone a certain animal's skin appearance may suffice, or you can even make the prosthetics from a gelatin compound. Someone I worked with once said they're faster to make than the latex or silicone, and relatively cheap too.


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## Howlinmadjack (Jul 20, 2009)

GrimmEverafter said:


> If you want to make the absolute best results for a gene splice look, prosthetics are definitely a must. You can get them in either latex or silicone generically, so they might fit different faces, or you can make them yourself. It might be a bit pricey to make facial prosthetics by hand, but the results may be better if you want a certain sort of look. To do it very cheaply, a bit of makeup work to give someone a certain animal's skin appearance may suffice, or you can even make the prosthetics from a gelatin compound. Someone I worked with once said they're faster to make than the latex or silicone, and relatively cheap too.


Would you know what type of gelatin compound, or where I could look up some info about it? Thanks, any info is helpful.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Might start here, Jack:

http://www.halloweenfear.com/GelatineProsthetics1.html

And here:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Using-gelatin-for-moulds-and-prosthetics/


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

My best advice would be to first get a good quality appliance - not a party store crappy, hard one. Some party stores do sell good ones (I like Woochie). While I LOVE appliances, I think they are a pain in the ars to put on and make look well. Time yourself putting one on from start to finish. From the time it takes you to trim it, apply it, seal it, blend it, apply makeup...I usually need 3 hours for mine, but I'm picky.


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## Johnmonster (Sep 4, 2009)

I've never worked with gelatin, but I understand it is difficult to reuse and can melt from sweat and heat.

Are you wanting bizarre, malformed gene-spliced freaks? Or more subtle ones? If you want to go the more subtle route, you can do some 3 dimensional makeups with nose putty or liquid latex. For example, making a cleft from upper lip to nose with nose putty or latex for a feline or canine look. Clever use of false teeth and fangs and some safe but affordable contact lenses can help a good makeup job go a long way.

Another option is to do a few details on the face that suggest the animal, and then drape or wrap the rest of the face with gauze or just scrap cloth so that the few details that show inspire people to imagine the rest underneath. I could see a mutant like that wanting to hide his or her horrific visage.

It's also dependent on how the actor sells it. You want the actor who moves strangely and creates an aura of mystery and wonder, not the one who greets people with "Hi, I'm supposed to be a half cat, half human! ROWWR!!"


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

You might look at Reynoldsam.com
These guys sell all the materials, teach the classes and have some really knowledgeable people on their staff, and they are very friendly too. They may have an outlet near to your home base/location.


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## sickNtwisted (Sep 29, 2010)

Check out FX Warehouse, I'm sure they'd be able to help you.

http://www.fxwarehouse.info/


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## Mr_Chicken (Nov 26, 2008)

I'm going to advise against gelatin for haunting. It's great stuff, and it's really easy to use, but it will probably melt off of your actors' faces as they get hot and sweaty through the night.

For a haunt, go with foam latex or regular latex (like the prosthetics you can get from the Halloween store).

A word of warning: foam latex is a royal PITA. If you're willing to learn it, and have the time to devote to it, go for it. You'll be glad you did.

Done right, plain old latex will give you great results, especially since you're using it under less than idea lighting. Just try to avoid areas that will need to flex a lot.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.


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## hauntedkimmy (May 31, 2011)

I think the best bet too, especially for beginners, is latex. I make a lot of prosthetics and use latex. I would be happy to help you get started if you would like, just give me a shout.


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