I am still working on the hand cast and it's kind of slow progress as I have to leave each layer of silicone for 24 hours to set. So while I was waiting I tried out another experiment. One of my ideas for my FYP involved human like androids, and one of them has convinced all the humans that it's also human - that until it's skin gets torn revealing the robotic mechanism beneath. I wanted to create an effect of torn skin on my arm using liquid latex - with the robotic mechanism then showing. Something like the image below, but with loose skin around the cut.

 

 

 

Instead of drawing or painting on the robotic bits I thought I would paint on a flat colour and key it out later in After Effects, and add an image of the robotic arm. I used some blue face paint which I had to apply fairly thickly.



 



 

 

I then applied a layer of liquid latex

 

I soon realised that the latex dried almost transparent but figured that I could add some make-up over it to give the area a skin colour

 

After several layers of latex the blue paint underneath was still very obvious. I wanted to get a white colour to apply the make-up over.

 

I had seen a video on the interweb where the person added a layer of tissue paper between the layers of latex to save on latex, so I decided that this would give me the white I needed and hide the blue.

 

As I had no make-up (I think foundation is what they use) I decided to just rip the latex - as this is only an experiment as yet - to see how it will look. As you can see the layer of blue face paint stuck to the first layer of latex and came away with the latex. Also the tissue was too thick and gave a lumpy texture, not a bit realistic.

 

I also didn't shave a big enough area on my arm but I did discover a new method of hair removal (though I wouldn't recommend it). Next time I'll draw on the robotic section and cover it with a release gel. I also discovered that there's a liquid foundation that can be added to the liquid latex before applying, so I'll try that too.

 

I've added several more layers to each half of the hand mould and have since joined the two halves after applying more silicone to hopefully fill in all the gaps - It was a case of guessing where it was needed as I couldn't see into the mould. There's a lot to be said for a viscous material. I know from experience that this cast could take ages - over a week - to set, so at the moment it's outside where there's a strong breeze. Hopefully this will speed up the setting time.