Feminine hands

reelmagik.com dark shadows fingers

Bruce Spalding Fuller - fingers SCREEN SHOTS

To make finger extensions,

Cast models finger in alginate
Fill mould with plaster - positive core
Tidy up plaster, add on base with a key
Sculpt on longer, feminine fingers
Mould the new finger with plaster (positive + negative)
clean out mould and prepare positive + negative with mould release
weigh clay and melt equivalent gelatine
Run silicone in mould and press in positive
pull mould apart, powder gelatine

Makeup 1: Gelatine

Gelatine appliance

Prosaide

Melted gelatine to set nail

Derma colour: D2, D3

powder - to set colour

Makeup 2: Wax

Was spread with spatula

Derma Colour: D2, D3

Nail pressed into nail beds

I wanted to do a silicone version of this appliance I made, however, at the small amount required, I felt it would be difficult to mix up the appropriate amount successfully. Also to encapsulate the silicone, I would have struggled to do this as my moulds were so narrow.

Core Fingers To cast my models finger, I used alginate in a container deep enough to submerge the fingers.	Sculpting I sucluped on a more feminine finger shape by elongating the finger tips. I also sculpted a nail bed for a false nail to be applied.	Sculpting detail I textured the fingers, giving them appropriate wrinkles and finger prints.
Base To be able to mould them, I created a base to make the fingers stable. Within this I created channels for material to flow out of. (gelatine/silicone)	Moulding After grounding up and brushing mould release all over the fingers, and I decided to use cups to create neat moulds,	Moulding Pouring plaster into the cups, I waited until the plaster had slightly thickened before i pushed in the fingers to ensure they didn't contact the bottom.
Running Gelatine Gelatine is poured into the mould and excess is squeezed out of the mould by the pressure of the core, giving me my fine blending edge.	Gelatine piece Once set, the fingers were pulled out of the moulds which came out with successful looking blending edges.

For the final pieces I wanted to apply, I repeated this method with pigmented gelatine to mak eit easier to match the skin tone.

If I were to do this again I would try silicone as I think these may eb easier to apply. However, using such small measurements of silicone may be wasteful.

Overall I was happy with my idea, however matching the skin colour was difficult as the hands changed temperature. Next time I will take the colour further up the finger. I also feel that the gelatine wasnt as successful as it could have been because of the method I used to mould them. Instead of plaster, I will next time mould the finger in alginate, as this flexible mould will enable me to free the apppliance from the mould more easily.

Gelatine and Wax	Gelatine
Gelatine	Wax

Edited Image

Using photoshop, I edited the images to see how they would look without any visible edges or discolouring. From this, I prefer the result of the gelatine (left) as gelatine has more texture than wax. For the wax fingers, next time I would pay more attention to the detail as well as the colouring. As for the gelatine, I will need to invest in a professional standard sealer, as hairspray was not fine enough for this job.

Feminine Hands

Core Fingers

To cast my models finger, I used alginate in a container deep enough to submerge the fingers.

Sculpting

I sucluped on a more feminine finger shape by elongating the finger tips. I also sculpted a nail bed for a false nail to be applied.

Sculpting detail

I textured the fingers, giving them appropriate wrinkles and finger prints.

Base

To be able to mould them, I created a base to make the fingers stable. Within this I created channels for material to flow out of. (gelatine/silicone)

Moulding

After grounding up and brushing mould release all over the fingers, and I decided to use cups to create neat moulds,

Moulding

Pouring plaster into the cups, I waited until the plaster had slightly thickened before i pushed in the fingers to ensure they didn't contact the bottom.

Running Gelatine

Gelatine is poured into the mould and excess is squeezed out of the mould by the pressure of the core, giving me my fine blending edge.

Gelatine piece

Once set, the fingers were pulled out of the moulds which came out with successful looking blending edges.

Gelatine and Wax

Gelatine

Gelatine

Wax

Edited Image