Matrix Mould Making AKA Jacket Mould.

The past week I have been learning the process and steps of a Matrix Mould. I'm not going to sit here typing and pretend it's been an easy week. (I'm no liar!) The process is complicated and I struggled to get my head around it at first. It's a backwards process to everything I have learnt a year and a half into my SFX degree. BUT... it does eventually click I PROMISE! 

I'm not going to begin to start to explain the process as there are many websites / tutorials out there on the big wide web that would do a MUCH better job at it than me. I am merely going to explaining my experience with creating a matrix mould.

When our third year Mentor "Claire Minehane" told us what she would be teaching I went off and tried to do a little research into it. My first port of call for research is always my bible:

"Special effects make up for stage and screen "Second Edition" By Todd  Debreceni" If you haven't already purchased it and are interested in SFX! Get out and buy it..http://www.amazon.co.uk/Special-Makeup-Effects-Stage-Screen/dp/024081696X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422469419&sr=1-1


If I am completely honest the book gave me a little insight to what we would be doing however, I was still confused after reading. The main point I took from the book was the benefits of a Matrix Mould.

Here are a few:

• Most accurate moulds. 
• Alot of work goes into making them.
• The rigid outer shell is created first. 
• The softer more fluid material between the shell.
• The process is best used to complex shapes. 

With these pointers in mind, I'll show you our process of a matrix mould of a plaster arm cast. 

Here is the first side of the mould. We covered the plaster arm cast with WED clay and added 3 pour holes, and many keys to ensure we had the precision we needed. 

Leaving the plaster arm cast in place, we cleaned up the outer plaster shell and prepped it ready for the next side to be moulded.

 Here is the mould with the other side prepped ready to be poured. We had a slight dilemma at this point we didnt make the clay walls strong enough which caused the plaster to start leaking a little. BUT...with a bit of patience and arm strength we gained back control :)!

 A lesson learnt and one to remember for sure! :)

Being so focused on the next steps I never took any photographs (Silly me!) At this point we filled the outer casts with PS28 Silicone to create the soft center which would collect all the detail :).

We then filled the center of the mould with Flesh tone Pigmented Pro Gel 10, we brushed the silicone into the mould to ensure all areas were covered. (As it's too heavy and big to slush). Once the Silicone was setting we poured in a Brown Pigmented Soft foam. The pigments were used to get a base colour to save time and products when painted.

The arm prosthetic isn't quite complete yet. It still has to be painted, which is my job to do on Friday. So keep posted to see the end result = A severed arm found in the rubble!

Thanks for reading

Zoe x