How to Make Fake Body Parts

There are several methods of making fake body parts. The method you choose is determined by the end result you want, your budget and the amount of effort you want to invest. Among many choices, your most basic options are;

1. Plaster. Quick and dirty, no real expertise is needed. Home level.

2. Latex, slip. For a rubber part, much more involved but the results might be worth it. Haunted house level quality. For people
who have had previous experience.

3. Silicone. For ultra-realistic fake body parts. Very expensive. Motion Picture quality. Not for beginners.

Important Note: You will have great difficulty learning these techniques without previous experience, books, videos or someone to coach you. Please get our video "Skins for Dummies and Other Props" and other reference materials.

In terms of a pattern you basically have two options.

1. Life-cast. Very realistic, but sometimes not as dramatic. Extreme details right down to finger-prints, but more costly and risky.

2. Sculpture. Limited by your skill as an artist. Can be as large and dramatic as you want. Takes more sculpting time.

NOTE: We carry most of the materials for these procedures. Please plan to spend some time reading the various articles at our site for much more information.

1. Sculpt a hand from oil based clay.
2. Make a two-part latex mold.
3. Clean out the mold and let it dry.
4. Apply Sea-Lube mold release to all internal surfaces
5. Fill with plaster, let it set, remove the mold.
6. Paint the plaster to your liking with water-based craft paint

Option: you can also mix some paint in with the plaster water to tint the plaster a flesh color.

Costs: Plan to spend about $50 on materials.

Time: Plan to spend a few days on this process.

1. Use alginate to make a mold of the hand.
2. Melt Modeling clay and pour this into the alginate mold.
3. Let the clay harden (put in a fridge if needed) and remove the alginate.
4. Touch up and perfect the clay positive. Seal with Sea-lube or shellac.
5. Make a latex rubber mold.
5. Clean out the mold and let it dry.
6. Apply Sea-Lube mold release to all internal surfaces
7. Fill with plaster, let it set, remove the mold.
8. Paint the plaster to your liking with water-based craft paint

Option: you can also mix some paint in with the plaster water to tint the plaster a flesh color.

Costs: Plan to spend about $75 to $150 on materials.

Time: Plan to spend about a week on this process.

(Halloween Style Mask Making Technique)
This will create a hollow latex hand like the ones you see in the stores around Halloween time. The video, "Latex Mask Making from Start to Finish" is recommended.

Latex Hand from a Sculpture

1. Sculpt a hand from oil based clay.
2. Make a two-part plaster mold. Use an absorptive, tooling grade plaster. Apply Sea-Lube mold release to all plaster to plaster surfaces
3. Clean out the mold and let it dry.
4. Fill with liquid latex, let it sit until a skin is formed on the inside surface of the mold. Mold release is not needed when using latex to plaster.
5. Dump out the "middle" latex back into its container. Let the latex that is stuck on the inside of the mold dry completely, which may take a few days. You may repeat the process if you want to make the skin thicker.
6. Powder the latex with corn starch before removing it.
7. You have many painting options, but the most common one is to use a little Artist's Acrylic Paint in the tube as a pigment. Mix this with some of your raw liquid latex.
8. You may also use Rubber Mask Grease Paint or dyes.

Option: you can also mix some acrylic paint in with the latex to tint the latex a flesh color.

Costs: Plan to spend about $75 on materials.

Time: Plan to spend about a week on this process.

(Halloween Style Mask Making Technique)
This will create a hollow latex hand. The video, "Latex Mask Making from Start to Finish" is recommended.

Latex Hand from a Life Cast

1. Use alginate to make a mold of the hand.
2. Melt Modeling clay and pour this into the alginate mold.
3. Let the clay harden (put in a fridge if needed) and remove the alginate.
4. Touch up and perfect the clay positive. Seal with Sea-lube or shellac.
5. Make a two-part plaster mold. The mold material must be a tooling grade/absorptive type plaster. Apply Sea-Lube mold release to all internal surfaces.
6. Clean out the mold and let it dry.
7. Fill with liquid latex, let it sit until a skin is formed on the inside surface of the mold. Mold release is not needed when you use latex to plaster.
6. Dump out the "middle" latex back into its container. Let the latex that is stuck on the inside of the mold dry completely, which may take a few days. You may repeat the process if you want to make the skin thicker.
7. Powder the latex with corn starch before removing it.
8. You have many painting options, but the most common one is to use a little Artist's Acrylic Paint in the tube as a pigment. Mix this with some of your raw liquid latex.
9. You may also use Rubber Mask Grease Paint or dyes.

Option: you can also mix some acrylic paint in with the latex to tint the latex a flesh color.

Costs: Plan to spend about $75 to $150 on materials.

Time: Plan to spend about a week on this process.

1. Sculpt a hand from oil based clay.
2. Make a two-part silicone mold with General Purpose silicone.
3. Clean out the mold.
4. Apply petrolatum jelly as a mold release to all internal surfaces. You can cast silicone in silicone if you use petrolatum jelly as a mold release.
5. Mix your silicone, including some Dry Cosmetic Pigment for color. Fill the mold, or use thixotropic. Please refer to the Skins video for help.

Costs: Plan to spend about $150 to $200 on materials.

Time: Plan to spend about a week on this process.

1. Use alginate to make a mold of the hand.
2. Mix plaster and pour this into the alginate mold.
3. Let the plaster harden, then remove the alginate.
4. Touch up and perfect the plaster positive.
2. Make a two-part silicone mold with General Purpose silicone.
3. Clean out the mold.
4. Apply petrolatum jelly as a mold release to all internal surfaces. You can cast silicone in silicone if you use petrolatum jelly as a mold release.
5. Mix your silicone, including some Dry Cosmetic Pigment for color. Fill the mold, or use thixotropic. Please refer to the Skins video for help.

Costs: Plan to spend about $150 to $200 on materials.

Time: Plan to spend about a week on this process.

Please budget time and materials for experimentation. You will not get this right on the first time. This is fun but can't be described as "Easy" like most of the stuff you get at stores these days. If you don't have artistic or craft ability please get someone to help you. Doing your homework will pay off, please invest in the books or videos as these things can't be explained in email nor over the phone. There is no single book or video that explains all these techniques in one place. You will have to adapt procedures and processes, but the basic principles won't change. If you are a little bit impatient, sloppy, or slow you will have extra expenses, frustration and disappointments. All techniques can be mastered with time, materials and patience.

Don't forget to check out our list of talented people in our Artist Pool.