Tuesday 30 October 2012

The Gentlemen from Buffy. Prosthetic Costume






















    What you will need.
·         Prosthetic forehead (Online FX websites)
·         Liquid latex www.teampixie.co.uk
·         Prosthetic  Glue (Ben Nye) www.teampixie.co.uk
·         Setting powder
·         Prosthetic Glue Remover (Ben Nye) www.teampixie.co.uk
·         Various sized sponges
·         Liquid Eyeliner
·         Ben Nye death wheel grease paint
·         White grease paint www.teampixie.co.uk
·         Silver tooth Enamel www.teampixie.co.uk
·         Cotton buds
·         White out contacts


Step 1.

Applying the forehead prosthetic.

Firstly moisturise your mug before applying anything. I then used Vaseline to coat my eyebrows so when you remove the prosthetic you won’t lose your eyebrows either.

·         Apply glue to the prosthetic and to the area on your face where it will go. Allow the glue to dry slightly. Gently place the prosthetic onto your face and place into the position you want. Hold for a few minutes. I used an old prosthetic I had from last year. But a new one will give a smoother finish.
·         One it is in place use a cotton bud to glue around the inner edges of the prosthetic. Take your time with this to ensure a smooth finish. I left the nose section until later on.
             Step 2.
              Applying the bald cap.
·         Smooth down your hair and pull the bald cap gently over your head. Mine was not pre cut so I had to cut it to fit around my ears. I recommend taking the cap off to cut into the correct shape.
·         One you’re comfortable with the fit, you can either glue it there and then onto your neck or leave the neck bit until later.
·         You will however need to glue the inner edges of the bald cap into place with a cotton bud.
Step 3.
Gluing and liquid latex.
·         Using a sponge you will need to start to build up layers to cover the joining lines of the prosthetics. I like to seal all the edges with more prosthetic glue. I then set the glue with colour set powder.
·         Using liquid latex I then start to build up layers to blend the prosthetic into my skin. This is where I glued and blended the prosthetic on my nose. Using the colour set powder to seal each new layer to ensure faster drying. It doesn’t look very nice at this stage but keep going with it.
Step 4.
·         Whilst the liquid latex is drying apply your prosthetic cheeks. This involves the same process as before. Once it is in place, glue the edges, and then use the liquid latex and the setting power to blend into your face.
·         Once the cheeks are done I then glued the neck down ready for painting.
To glue the neck down, Pull the cap down on your neck and lean your head in that direction. Allow the glue to dry and do the same in the other direction. Once the glue has dried and the cap is stuck down you should have a tight fitting bald cap.

Step 5.

Grease Paint

Once you are happy that the prosthetic edges are blended in to create a seamless line, you are ready to start painting.
·         Using grease paint, I started to build up layers of flesh skin tones.  I used three layers initially, a slightly pink skin tone, followed by a yellow skin tone, with a final layer of a skin tone that matched my own (Almost) I set each layer with the colour set powder.
·         I then used my white grease paint to place a pale layer over my face and the bold cap. Get a friend to paint the back of your bald cap if you want a more even finish.
·         Set the whole thing with the colour set powder.

Step 6
Shading
·         Once the basic colours are in place it is time to create contours, shadows and blemishes.
·         I used a black eye shadow to create the black look around my eyes. With brown grease paint to create contours, on my cheeks and forehead. Set with the colour set powder. Keep doing this until you are happy and have a realistic finish.
·         I then used liquid eyeliner to define the edges of my eyes and to create a wrinkled skin effect.
·         I then popped my contacts in and used the silver tooth enamel to paint my teeth.


It’s not perfect but it will do.