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if I went with foam latex...
May 28, 2006
silicone or foam latex next?
by sven at 8:00 am
I've got a puppet in progress right now that will be cast in flexible expanding urethane foam ("cold foam"). It will have an outermost skin of latex, which will be painted directly into the ultracal 30 mold. The armature will be made of aluminum armature wire.
I'm committed to seeing the puppet through -- but already I'm pretty sure that I won't be using this techinique again.
After this puppet, I want to make either a foam latex puppet or a silicone puppet. I suspect that one of these two materials will become my default for casting puppets here-on-out. Pros and cons for each...
Foam latex:
- Pro: It's light and fluffy.
- Pro: It's reasonably easy to repair if you need to tear it open for surgery -- which is particularly important if you're going to have a metal-jointed armature that needs tightening from time-to-time.
- Pro: Painting "only" requires PAX paint and talc.
- Con: It rots over time -- in perhaps as little as 6 months to 3 years.
- Con: It's difficult to mix right; there are four components that need to be frothed, and timing matters.
- Con: It's tricky getting the foam to cure; it's sensitive to temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure.
- Con: You need a dedicated oven and kitchen mixer -- which take up space, and are an additional cost.
- Con: It's vulnerable to brass (due to copper content) and to oils... Like the natural oils on your hands.
Silicone:
- Pro: It doesn't rot. It should last at least 30 years.
- Pro: There are only two components (well, three with slacker/deadener) -- and you don't have to froth them in a mixer.
- Pro: The curing doesn't require baking. It should work so long as you get the measurements right and stir well.
- Pro: You don't need to make space for a stove and kitchen mixer.
- Pro: Brass armatures shouldn't pose a problem.
- Con: It's rather heavy.
- Con: It's difficult to paint; the only thing that sticks to silicone is silicone.
- Con: Repairing tears is difficult or impossible; this makes it hard to tighten a metal-jointed armature.
- Con: It's vulnerable to sulfur, which is found in many brands of plasticene.
- Con: Silicone is somewhat more expensive than foam latex.
The notion that foam latex is going to rot so quickly is really appalling. ...But then, it's what Ray Harryhausen used. I wonder if part of me would always feel incomplete, if I didn't try making a foam latex puppet at least once? A thought experiment: If there was a class in Portland on making foam latex puppets, and the tuition was $250 -- and I got to keep all the tools and materials -- would I take that class? I think the answer is YES! -- in a heartbeat!
I've been pricing it out, and I think that I could actually get a foam latex set-up for only $90 - $100. ...But then, suppose that after I try it I find that don't want to keep working with latex? (Did I mention that it rots?) I'd be stuck with a big clunky oven eating up my precious space. If I got a used oven for cheap, I could probably just sell/give it back to the store where I got it. Even so, it feels weird to go through all that trouble and expense if I don't know that I'm going to stick with this material.
In the long run, I suspect that I'll wind up working with silicone. I just can't stand the idea of my puppets rotting away before my eyes. The main worry with silicone is that I'll need to get into the puppet to tighten joints -- but won't be able to. ...From what I've read so far, I think that I can cobble together a solution for painting the stuff. And all the other "cons" seem pretty surmountable.
I guess, then, that I ought to try silicone next. It's more likely to be the material that I want to stick with. If it's not, then I can try foam latex with a clear conscience. Or hey -- even if I love silicone, there's nothing preventing me from trying foam latex later on -- just for the sake of having the experience.