Lifecast / Lifequin - The Beginnings UPDATED It's been on my to-do list to make a lifecast of myself for some time so I can do my Begins build with excellence - I did a bit of research and tackled the project with some friends and family this weekend. So, I thought I'd share some pics - so far it's gone well but I'd caution anyone who is hoping to do one - I actually passed out right as we finished the back half. Being locked in plaster in that position was enough for me to go light headed and faint. Luckily, some of my helpers were able to ease me to the ground while another was able to save the back half of the casting. It turned out ok even though we had to pull the back half off while I rested a bit - we later just put it back on to finish the front. So now - pics:
Step 1 was to put on a full body lycra suit followed by a release cream.
Then, we had several people dipping plaster strips while several others laid them down - covering only the back half
Then we added wooden bracing so when it all came off it wouldn't twist or sag or distort too badly
Last edited by thawk97, 6/27/2011, 10:40 pm
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Re: LifeCast - The Beginnings So, at the halfway, I fainted due to poor circulation. After a short break they put the back half back on to finish some things before taking it off for another short break - here's a neat video of that:
Last edited by thawk97, 6/5/2011, 10:29 pm
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Re: LifeCast - The Beginnings Awesome! Thanks for sharing these great pics! I hope they remain here for a long time. I've been wanting to make a life cast of myself too.
Re: LifeCast - The Beginnings Alright - I don't have pics up to the latest, but these are from like a week ago. Currently I'm done with the form and just have the finish work - he's even standing upright now. But this was part of the process - of course there were some issues with getting the top and bottom pieces to match how I wanted - largely because the back mold had to be removed halfway through and because we didn't get the legs braced properly to the torso on the front so there was some distortion. All in all this has become a lifequin more than a lifecast, but it's still very close based on all my measurements.
Freshly trimmed and pulled from the plaster mold
This is the top half laying on the bottom half - hard to see some of the matchup issues here
Here you can see I had to cut the front legs from the torso because the mold had bowed some and they didn't sit properly. Also can see the beginnings of filling the entire thing with foam.
Had to cut the arms off at some point to be able to get the suit on and off well - and it's easier to align without the arms attached. Also had to trim my sides on the top portion because of distortion from where they had to pry the plaster away from my body - it made me look like I had a huge spare tire which suddenly stops halfway around my side haha.
Lining up the arm
Starting to come back together now - the legs are just laying in there loosely
One other angle.
I'll try and get more up this week cause I plan on getting some decent work done.
Last edited by thawk97, 6/27/2011, 10:44 pm
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Re: Lifecast / Lifequin - The Beginnings UPDATED That is veeery cool bro (bows). wow i've also been wanting to do the same for my display. thanks for sharing the pics and experience. it sounds like a grueling task but very well worth it in the end i'd say...
Re: Lifecast / Lifequin - The Beginnings UPDATED Good job.
I have ben professionally body cast twice now. To get the absolute best results, you really have to bite the bullet and just wear a pair of speedos and grease yourself up. That way you can really get into the arm pic and er.. Crotch. (thankfully a very pretty girl did the crotch bit. Quite well I might add.)
Also, once you have removed the model from the lifecast mould, the 2 halves should be re aligned and screwed together until you are ready to cast, that way the 2 halves do not distort and lining up you glass casting it much easier.
Re: Lifecast / Lifequin - The Beginnings UPDATED Yeah - it's true both the armpit and crotch areas have required a bunch of work post casting. And, you're also correct that bolting together would have been a good plan - since I didn't do either I'm having to fix it all on the back end which has taken longer than I thought. I also rushed the fiberglass some and got more little airbubbles on the surface than I would have liked. The good thing is, it's all going to be covered in the end so the cosmetics aren't really important. I'm hoping to finish this weekend if I can. Hopefully others can learn from my experience, pics, and mistakes.
More pics coming soon
Last edited by thawk97, 7/8/2011, 2:12 pm
--- -But master Wayne, guests will be arriving soon.
-Keep them happy til I return. Tell them that joke you know.