Instructions for making breast forms
[SIZE=2]Hi all, thanks for the kudos. For those of you who are interested in my method of making breastforms (minus the swearing), get a pen and paper ready. I'll avoid the "Shy Charlotte Red" lettering for ease of reading (there's alot).[/SIZE]
Materials Needed:
A couple of large cardboard boxes
Duct tape (I read somewhere that Duct Tape is like the Force: It has a dark side, a light side, and it binds the universe together).
Plaster (Hydrocal 30 works best, as it dries harder and with more detail, but you can get away with plaster of Paris. I mistakenly used smoothset plaster for drywalling, and this stuff never dries and cracks if you look at it funny :mad: )
A few rolls of gauze (my mom's a nurse, so I get these for free)
Painter's dropcloth
A water-resistant lubricant (vaseline, crisco [what I used, also a great moisturizer after a shower. It's used in some nursing homes under the pseudonym Preparation C], I've also read that liquid detergent will work, but have not confirmed this)
5lb. block of plastiline (non-drying clay, found in art stores for sculpting students). Might need more plastiline for larger breasts.
slip latex (found in special effects stores for $8-12 for a gallon, or in art stores for the same amount, but half gallon sizes under the name Mold Builder)
Makeup or fleshtone colorant.
Abstract:
A. Know how to mix your plaster-
There is a right and wrong way to mix plaster. Plaster always needs to be added to water, not vice versa. Plaster is added to standing water a little at a time (I suggest a scoop, such as a disposable cup). Add until the plaster forms islands on top of the water. Then do not touch until ready to use. The proper method of mixing is by hand, not with a mixer, as mixers and mixing sticks can cause bubbles to form, which weakens the plaster. You'll need to cover a hand with vaseline, then just reach into the bucket, and slowly swirl the mixture, squeezing out any clumps and making sure to get the bottom until you get a milky consistency.
B. Assistants can ease the process of applying plaster to yourself, although I did all my molds by myself.
I. Making the Chest Model Negative:
Get a box that will approximately fit you chest (ideally going a little bit past the sides). Press up to your chest, and roughly outline where your chest wall meets the box. Cut out, and put up to your chest again. You'll continue cutting until the box gets to about 3/4 of the depth of your chest (the top and bottom parts will be concave, to accomodate the curve of your chest). Ideally you want to box in your chest from around the level of your collar bone, down to the bottom of your rib cage. Once you get a tight but even fit prep your plaster. Make enough plaster to cover the highest part of your chest with at least an inch of plaster. Once mixed you'll have a window of about 20-30 minutes working time. If you wish, you can do this after you get the duct tape seals down, but you will move stiffly, since you cannot elevate your arm in front of you.
To make the duct tape seals just seal all the edges where the box meets your chest, to keep the plaster from leaking out. It works fairly well, assuming you got the good tape, and not the stuff from the 99cent store. Either way, you'll want to put a second layer of tape a little past the first, to increase connection with skin. Before you put the tape on, make sure to shave every possible hair from your chest, and cover all of your chest with vaseline/crisco/etc. The dried plaster will pull out your hair better than any wax, but without the give. From experience it can be very painful, so make sure you get ALL THE HAIRS (even the invisible ones). Once you're shaved, lubed, boxed, and taped, lie down on a drop cloth, and when the plaster has gotten to the consistency of yogurt pour it into the box. Make sure to watch for leaks (this was the step where I managed to spill my plaster everywhere). If you feel a leak forming, try to apply pressure to the tape. A little leakage is acceptable. Just sit and wait. The plaster warms as it sets, so assuming you didn't manage to confuse flour for plaster, you should be in good shape. Wait until it feels like the plaster is pretty solid, then carefully remove the box.
II. Making the Chest Positive:
Once the negative is made, you should have accurate mold of your chest. To make the positive, coat all the surfaces on the detail section and surrounding surface on that side of the mold with crisco. Make sure you get everything, so that the new plaster won't stick to the old. Lay the mold facing up, and build another box/dam around this, sealing the edges with duct tape and/or plastiline. Mix plaster as above and pour into mold. Make the plaster at least deep enough to fill the entire mold plus 1-2 inches. Once this has set CAREFULLY separate the two, and if done correctly you should have a rather unflattering representation of your chest.
III. Sculpting the Breasts.
This part requires some artistic prowess. Build up a sculpture of the breasts you want by tearing off small pieces of plastiline from the block, and adding it piece by piece to build up the breast. Smooth it out as best you can when you finish with your fingers, and rub lightly across the surface to remove fingerprints. A little trick I did to make the nipples was to go back to my chest negative, pushing plastiline into the cavities where my nipples were in the mold, pulling these out, and just attaching them onto the sculpture. A trick to making realistic breasts is to have a picture in front of you of real breasts (or relatively real.... mine were from a breast enhancement website pic). You'll need pictures for a full frontal, 3/4 view, and profile.
IV. Making a Master Mold
Coat all plaster surfaces once again with crisco/vaseline. Don't really need it on the sculpture, since the plaster doesn't stick well to the plastiline (as you may have found out while sculpting). Make another box, same as the above, making sure to seal it properly, and pour the plaster once again onto the chest positive with sculpture, which is facing up. Carefully separate the master mold from the chest positive, and scoop out the plastiline (which would have gotten very soft from the heat of the plaster setting).
V. Building up the Breast Form Wall
This is when you get your slip latex, mixed with make-up or colorant to get to a desired skin tone. If you are the patient type, you can experiment with the colors to determine the proper ratio of color to latex, so you get a suitable tone once the latex dries. Once you have this mixed (into about half of a styrofoam cup), use a disposable/old chip brush, or small flat paintbrush, and start painting the sides of the master mold where the sculpture was. Lay it on until you coat the whole thing, then cover the slip latex in the cup, and let the latex in the mold dry (the hotter and dryer the environment, the better). Then, add another layer. After your third layer, you'll get a thin layer of gauze and spread along the walls of the latex before it dries. Let this dry out, and then put another layer of latex over this, making sure to get rid of as many bubbles as possible. Leave out in the sun, or somewhere warm and dry for at least a day. Once you feel you've gotten a suitable thickness of latex, you can work on making the back of the mold.
The back of the mold is done by getting a thin layer of gauze, cutting it to about the shape of the back of the mold, then dipping it into the slip latex. Pull this out, wring it out a bit, then stretch it along the entire back of the breast form. This will give you a slight concave, since the latex laden gauze will stretch when wet, and will hang down from its own weight. After this is somewhat dry, put another layer of slip latex over this to fill any holes. After the whole mess has been drying for a day or so, you carefully peel the forms out of the mold, starting with the edge. This should be air tight. If not, brush on a little more flesh-toned slip latex to fill any holes. If it is airtight, put the forms back into the master mold, cut a small slit in the back, and spoon in your filler of choice. Nothing oil-based, as this degrades the latex. I think I'd read that hair gel dries up fairly quick, due to the porous nature of latex, and baby oil will destroy the whole thing. I've heard dishwashing detergent works well, and Blue Ice worked for me, although some of it comes through and will color the breast blue.
Once you have filled the form, either by spooning the mixture in or by using a syringe or turkey baster, then try to evacuate as much air as possible. Make sure the opening is clean and clear of any left over filler, and cover with a small patch of slip latexed gauze. Then cover with another larger patch of gauze when this is dry. Then cover with more slip latex, etc. For a more form-fitting breast, apply a thick layer of wet slip-latex, then place the chest positive face-down onto the master mold to get a closer fit. Leave for a couple of days somewhere dry to set. Carefully separate, and enjoy!
I found the latex to be good as far as color and texture, but felt a bit stiff. I'm going to try again fairly soon, using silicone, for a more supple, and chemicallly resistant breast form. Just be careful if you try using the silicone, not to put it on your skin until it is fully cured, as the chemicals used as the silicone solvent is a skin irritant.
[SIZE=2]Best of luck to those of you gals intrepid enough to try this. It can be fun, and will save you some cash[/SIZE].
