Makeup Artistry - Jess Brown

Snap moulds (also called conformed moulds, contoured moulds or squash moulds) are used to create a 3D prosthetic. They consist of a negative mould of the sculpt/piece, and a positive life cast that squash together. They can be made out of plaster, however these can easily break and chip, so a polyurethane mould will be created. Polyurethane is also lighter and more resistant than plaster, although it can be costly. As said by Todd Debreceni, "conforming moulds are becoming more commonly used in prosthetic application due to the ease and precision of the application process". (Debreceni, T. 2019). He goes on to say that this type of mould may not be suitable for all appliances, but he recommends them for smaller pieces.  As these are used to create individual prosthetics, they only need to be around the size of that piece. For example, if a nose prosthetic is being created, the mould only needs to be of the nose. This is accomplished in the first step using the master mould. A

After the silicone mould has been made, the next step is to create a fibreglass jacket. This will support the mould and help it keep its shape when it is being used.  Figure 1 - Fibreglass jacket (Brown, J. 2020) Fibreglass is a reinforced plastic material that is embedded with glass fibres. Fibreglass is supplied as a flattened sheet called strand matt, which comes in different grades (or thickness) from 300g to 600g. When this is combined with resin, it creates a very strong, durable composite. (Fibreglassdirect, 2017). This process is also known as laminating.  Fibreglass can be used for an array of different things, not just in prosthetics. For example, it is used widely in the automotive industry, in cooling towers, mining, the chemical industry and more. The properties of fibreglass makes it useful in all these areas. It is a good electrical insulator, it is incombustible, doesn't rot, has low thermal conductivity and has high mechanical strength. (Phelps, no date). Fibreglas

Master moulds are very useful tools. They are made with the intention of being able to use them numerous times and make countless copies of whatever has been moulded. In this case, a master mould is being made from a life cast. This will allow many casts to be made without having to do the full life casting process again, but also lets you get a cast of just the nose, or the mouth etc. This will be discussed more in detail later on.  Once the life cast has been prepped and the wall and keys have been built, the next step is to apply a spray release agent. The artist used Eject-it spray, also called Supralease CLR (petrolease), which is a very good mould release. This will make it easier to remove the mould from the cast when it is time to do so. After this, it is time to mix the silicone. Silicone (or siloxane) is like a hybrid between a synthetic rubber and a synthetic plastic material. It has many properties, such as being very malleable (depending on its hardness), and is temperatur