[Kaiden]

Greetings all.

I wonder if someone could share a bit of advice on latex mask production. I bought a video showing the process of making a mold of my monster clay sculpture in UtraCal/Burlap, and it suggests taking a full day to cure the latex once the mold is complete and latex poured in.

What is the best method to produce anywhere from 10 to as many as perhaps 50+ masks daily? Should I make more molds using the first mold and replicate them out, or is there a better way?

Eternally grateful.

 

[Mr_Chicken]

Yep. You'll want to make one mold per casting per day. Some of the big factory operations have ways of cheating that, but it usually means thinner castings and molds that don't last as long.

 

[Kaiden]

Yay for answering my question! I truly appreciate it.

I want to start a business selling masks if and when this process goes well.
I'll look into making more molds with a 3d print of the original then!

Thank you so much!

 

[Crazy Bonez]

Hey Kaiden, One thing to think about as you go forward making your additional molds from the original latex pour… The latex shrinks about 7% so the masks from additional molds will be slightly smaller than your first original mask.

Sometimes mask makers will go slightly larger with their original sculpt and then the first latex pour is used for making additional molds for the production run.
Hope that makes some sense for you.

 

[Kaiden]

Thank you so much for adding additional wisdom! I found out about thick latex being excellent as the production mold just a few days ago after running into this information online, so you must be psychic! I didn't think about the shrink happening twice on the latex - excellent advice.

I started my first mold of a large Dragon Mask that I'm doing the final wall for today and already wish I had used Ultracal instead of hydrocal for the strength and longevity, but it's a learning process. I'll do it over if needed!