Practical 6: Creating wounds/scars using moulds

Products:

• Gelatine mould
• Prosaide (adhesive)
• Pro-clean
• Kryolan Supra-Colour
• Kryolan Foundation palette
• Baby powder
• Witch-hazel 

Equipment:

• Scissors
• Cotton buds
• Cotton pads

Health and Safety:

• Clean, tidy workspace
• Replace all lids on products as adhesive will dry out if not!
• Careful with scissors

Technique:

• Cut around the wound section of the mould to avoid having excess gelatine and to get rid of any hard straight lines
• Apply Prosaide adhesive to skin with cotton bud. Wait for it to dry clear and tacky, then press mould onto skin, pushing down hard to merge the mould with the skin
• Use witch-hazel on a cotton bud to blend any edges and remove any glue on the surrounding area
• Dab baby powder onto the mould with a cotton pad to remove any tackiness
• Use foundation and supra colour to blend with skin and fill the 'wound' with flesh/blood colours
• Consider colours and diluting the colour of some parts to create more texture and a realistic effect

I think this practical was my least successful. I did not like using the mould as I found it really difficult to blend it seamlessly with my skin. On reflection, placing it on my arm, or somewhere else that isn't as firm as the back of my hand, would have been better, as I could have pushed the mould deeper into my skin, thus blending it better and meaning it would not stand so high about the surface. I also applied a little too much glue, which meant I spent a while having to rub it off with witch-hazel. My colour matching could have been better, and the inside of the wound does not look very realistic - if it had been a smaller wound, or placed on my arm, it probably would have looked better, as a wound on the back of a hand is unlikely to look this intense. I thought my choice of colours to fill the wound were quite good though, although I could have thinned a few bits to let a more fleshy tone show through. Overall, I enjoyed getting to play around with further products, however I do not think special effects are the way forward for me!