Sunday, 6 February 2011

Hands Part 3

After completing the moulds I decided to cast out a pare of hands as a test. The first step was to mix the silicone. The original colour is white so I pigmented it using a mix of oil paints until it became a fresh colour.
After I achieved the desired colour I added the catalyst and a catalyst booster that accelerates the reaction meaning it will cure faster.

I painted in the first layer of silicone to help avoid air bubbles. Then I inserted the wire armatures and filled each half.

The two halves were then quickly sandwiched together and clamped while the silicone set.

After everything had cured, I opened up the mould and removed the hands.


The excess silicone 'flashing' is cut off as part of the trimming and seaming process.
Finally here are a pare of finished Silicone hands.
 




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6 comments:

  1. Federico Boero4 June 2013 at 22:52

    Hi nathan, i have to say that all this information its very usefull and you are doing a great job.

    My question is, why you did the casting with Silicon its not more flexible the latex?.

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    Replies
    1. james17 June 2013 at 03:25

      Silicone is a two part mix. Foam latex is usually like a 5 part mix and is very difficult to mix. Silicone vulcanizes at room temperature. Foam latex has to be put into a kiln. Silicone is much easier to clean than foam latex. Silicone reacts with light in a similar way to skin, but latex doesn't.

      Delete
    2. Nathan Flynn17 June 2013 at 10:22

      Hi Federico.
      Sorry I must have missed your comment.
      What James say's is exactly right.
      (thanks James, nice catch :)

      In a nutshell, Silicone is easier to use, looks better and lasts longer.

      Delete
  2. Unknown8 December 2018 at 15:57

    Hi Nathan (and Josh),

    7 years later your blog is still the best internet ressource to have a nice and precise overview of the complete journey for making a armatured puppet!
    You're also very talented sculptors.
    Congrats and many thanks for sharing such a precious and valuable experience and knowledge!

    After reading every posts and comments of the 2 blogs, there still is one point that sounds mysterious to me:
    You prepared the hands with a nut inside as a rigging point, but in the process of casting them in silicone it appears that you didn't took that "hole" in account. Did you protect the hole from silicone to go inside, and how did you plan to use that nut afterward with the silicone around it?

    -- Lio

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    Replies
    1. Unknown24 January 2019 at 02:22

      this is a really good question !^^

      Maybe mine will sound stupid though... but did you remove the plastiline from the armature or did you make a second pair ?

      And about Lio's question,... a magnet system! , could it work?

      Thank you sooo much for this blog, I ve stopped counting the hours i'm spending on it !!
      2019 power !!! ^^

      ~Antony

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  3. Lily Williams2 April 2019 at 21:34

    Hi Nathan,

    Honestly this is the best blog i have ever seen on stop motion and your posts have saved me so much time!
    Anyway i was wondering if you could tell me specifically what silicone your using for the hands?
    thanks
    - Lily

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