MK on creating a doll from silicone sealant. Silicone doll

More and more craftsmen are showing a desire to try their hand at working with this relatively new material, but from the very first steps they are faced with difficulties, not knowing where to start, what silicone to use and how to handle it. Here I will try to summarize the main points, based on my own experience and information obtained from the Internet. I’ll say right away that I won’t tell you anything fundamentally new - everything that will be discussed is well known to professionals working with silicone, but I hope that the information collected in one place will help beginners overcome their first difficulties.

What silicones are needed for casting?

So, first of all, the silicone itself. When creating dolls, I use platinum-based compounds (two-component silicones) from Smooth-On made in the USA, so we will talk about them. To work, you will need two types of silicones: for casting the dolls themselves and for making the mold. There are not many of the first, primarily the Dragon Skin Series and Ecoflex Series. They have a high degree of elasticity and allow you to most realistically convey the effect of human flesh.

The silicones of each of these series have different technical specifications: softness, pot life (length of time when silicone remains fluid), hardening time, viscosity, etc. What kind of silicone is best to use when creating dolls? I can’t say anything specific here - it all depends on the master’s ultimate goal. In my opinion, it is best to follow the path of experimentation, trying different series in order to find in practice the one and only material that allows you to achieve the desired effect.

Silicones from the Dragon Skin Series and Ecoflex Series are colorless and translucent, so to obtain a realistic doll color they must be colored using special Silc Pig pigments.

The second type of silicones is used to make the mold. Be careful - Platinum-based silicones can only be cast into molds made from platinum-containing silicone. Silicones with a tin catalyst cannot be used. Otherwise, the casting will not harden. Silicones intended for mold removal have less elasticity, greater hardness, and are usually brightly colored or transparent. The bright color of one of the components allows you to evenly mix components A and B before pouring, and the transparent ones allow you to see the model in the mold (this is convenient if the mold is cast as a whole and then cut into parts). Silicones intended for mold removal include such series as: E-Series, Mold Star Series, Equinox Series, Rebound Series, etc.

The mold can be made by pouring, or by gradually applying layers of silicone with a brush. The first method is simpler and faster, but requires more silicone consumption. The second one is more labor-intensive, and it also requires various additional materials. You can clearly see the process of creating a “spread” form on the official video of the company:

A little about forms

The finished silicone mold remains elastic, this is its absolute advantage, but we must not forget that it can be easily deformed, so it must be placed in a special protective casing cast from ordinary plaster.

Before pouring silicone into a silicone mold, you must use a special release agent, Ease Release, otherwise the mold and the casting will stick tightly together. The separator layer must be thoroughly dried, since in some cases it prevents the silicone cast from completely hardening.

Molds for casting dolls can be made not only from silicone, but also from plaster. It is advisable to use special dental plaster for this purpose, such as Fuji Rock, which has increased strength and excellent transfer small details relief and dry quickly enough. Compared to silicone molds, gypsum molds do not require the use of a release agent and absorb excess silicone oil during the casting process. However, plaster molds also have significant disadvantages - the master model is almost impossible to remove from the plaster without damage, the molds open with great difficulty and become loose quite quickly, losing the accuracy of the alignment of the halves. Also, in comparison with silicone, a plaster mold has to be made from more parts, which increases the number of seams on the finished casting.

Basic rules for working with silicone

So, we’ve sorted out the materials for casting, now let’s talk about the process itself. To avoid defects and failures when working with silicone, you must follow two golden rules that make the life of the master much easier:

1. Always strictly and pedantically follow instructions, avoiding any amateur activities.
2. Always test new materials that come into contact with silicone for compatibility.

For work, it is advisable to purchase a vacuum chamber with a pump that pumps out air from the mixture before pouring. Some types of silicones can be used without prior degassing, however, the risk that air bubbles will remain in the frozen mass is quite high.

It’s also a good idea to have an oven or drying cabinet for post-curing finished products. Silicone that has undergone heat treatment quickly acquires the properties declared by the manufacturer. physical and chemical properties. Heat the product in an oven designed for food products I wouldn't risk it, despite the fact that platinum-based silicones are considered non-toxic materials.

I would like to note that making silicone dolls requires significant financial expenses, but you cannot save on materials and equipment by looking for cheap analogues and doing amateur work - the result of such experiments is usually disastrous and leads to inevitable damage to castings and molds.

When working with silicone, you should only wear vinyl gloves; latex gloves cannot be used.

The casting room must be heated; the temperature in it should not fall below 22-23 degrees. Necessary temperature regime one of the most important factors- at temperatures below 18 degrees, silicone may simply not harden, but more high temperature air slightly reduces the life time of the finished silicone mixture.

But you can’t store silicone in the heat. The material has a limited shelf life, which is reduced by increasing temperature. Opened jar must be used quickly, since contact with environment may also affect its properties. The algorithm for working with silicone should be as follows: take the jars of silicone out of a cool place, wait for it to warm up to the required 23 degrees, thoroughly mix the contents of each jar, combine components A and B in exact proportions, subject the finished mixture to degassing, pour into the mold and return the remaining silicone to the cold room.

In general, it should be remembered that silicone is a very capricious material that does not allow liberties in handling.

The vagaries of silicone

In principle, the process of making silicone castings is elementary, but this simplicity is deceptive. Silicone constantly presents unpleasant surprises, preventing the master from relaxing and making mistakes. Main danger for uncured silicone this is inhibition (poisoning) by various substances incompatible with it. The most formidable and at the same time the most common “enemy” of silicone is plasticine containing sulfur. To work, you need to buy only plasticines marked Sulfur Free, such as Monster Clay or Chavant. It is better not to keep questionable plasticines in the workshop at all - even accidentally touching a sulfur-containing material with your hand can “infect” the silicone mold.

The second “enemy” of silicone is latex. Do not use latex gloves, syringes with rubber nozzles on pistons, or any other instruments that have latex parts in their design.

Should be used with great caution wooden sticks to stir the mixture. Some types of silicone do not tolerate contact with wood and may be inhibited. To protect yourself from unpleasant surprises, it is advisable to mix the silicone with metal stirrers.

Freshly cured polyesters, epoxy and polyurethane rubbers are also dangerous. As I already wrote above, before using any new material, you need to test it by filling it with a small portion of silicone. If the mixture completely hardens in the usual time allotted for complete polymerization, and the surface of the silicone is not sticky, we can assume that the new material has successfully passed the exam and can be used in further work.

That's basically all I wanted to tell you about the techniques of working with silicone. I myself have often made mistakes, experienced many unpleasant moments, and I hope that this hard-won experience will help novice craftsmen not step on the painfully familiar old rake, and save nerves, time and money. Good luck with your creativity!

Reborn dolls are the passion of new times. They just look terribly like living babies. Because of this, they gained both insane popular love and immense criticism. But, no matter what they say, these are becoming the reality of our time.

They can be found in specialized online stores, on the shelves of regular retail outlets, but you never know where?

But today we will talk about how to make a reborn doll with your own hands. Of course, it's not as simple as it seems. But you must know what skills will be useful to you and what materials you will need if you want to learn this type of creativity and gradually become a master.

How to make a reborn doll yourself?

To create a reborn doll, we purchase a kit - mold. It includes blanks - head and limbs. Glass eyes and body are sold separately. Choose acrylic or oil paints for work, varnishes and gels for fixing and correcting paints. For hair implantation - rooting, you will need mohair or natural hair, special needles, tools and accessories.

Operating procedure

Cleaning the mold. We degrease it, wiping it with alcohol, wash it the day before work so that the mold is thoroughly dry, and wipe it thoroughly so that there are no water stains left.

We make slits in the eyes and holes in the nose. We use a 2.5 mm drill and an awl to make holes in the nostrils. Use a hot awl to remove burrs from drilling. We open our eyes with a scalpel.

Choosing paints

Oil paints. Apply up to 25 layers. Each layer should be baked, you can use. We draw the wreaths of blood vessels on the temples, on the wrists, feet, palms, diates, redness.

Acrylic paints are non-toxic and odorless. We apply the multi-layer design very accurately, the mistake will be difficult to correct.

We insert ready-made eyes. We glue the nails, stitch or glue the eyelashes. We apply varnish to fix the layers of paint, like this.

We perform rooting

Hairs You can paint the reborn on the head with a thin squirrel brush. Sometimes the finished wig is carefully glued on.

More often the reborn head is stitched with mohair or natural hair. We work with a special needle. Choose a thin needle. A thick needle catches more hair and makes the job rougher. We sew in a circle, repeating the location of the hair on the top of the child’s head.

Glue the hair from the inside with glue "Crystal Moment" and leave to dry for a day. We secure all parts of the body with zip ties. We stuff it with synthetic fluff and weight it with granulate.

Choosing clothes and accessories

The doll can be equipped with devices that create the sensation heartbeat. You can make your “girlfriend” warm to the touch, provide simulators of snoring, breathing, and coughing.

Lyudmila Dunaeva (Children of Dreams

Update: I added a few photos here. For liveliness.

Apartment renovation is natural disaster. Some argue that the number of survivors of such a cataclysm can be counted on one hand; it’s just that the Ministry of Health is hiding the real statistics of civilian deaths as a result of local major repairs. Therefore I can be proud twice:
1) I survived.
2) I didn’t throw away the unused tubes along with the waste. silicone sealant.

Upon calm examination, it turned out to be suitable for more than just seams in the bathroom. Still in a somewhat altered state of consciousness (for this is the only way to explain the insights that befell me), I discovered several more ways to use of this material. It turned out that it can be worked with both by casting into molds and by sculpting; it is quite unpretentious in work, strong and durable in quality finished product. The main property - elasticity, which plastics and other materials for modeling and modeling lack, gave me the idea to fulfill my childhood dream of a flexible doll without seams, hinges and textiles. I made my first elastomeric dolls from construction silicone sealant.

The time has come to share transcendental experiences. So.

Introduction.
Types of silicone sealants.

Construction silicone sealants are:
- acetate, that is, acidic (they stink of acetic acid, which is a product of vulcanization (hardening); you can determine it by smell, or by the inscription on the tube (or tube): on acetate sealants it is either written that they are acetate, or it is simply not written on them, that they are neutral)
- neutral
Neutrals, in turn, are divided into:
- oxime
- alcoke (alcohol)
again, according to the vulcanization product. They say this is an incomplete list, but in principle this is no longer important.
Oxime sealants are cheaper than others, but they are already being taken out of production, since the substance they release - oxime - is a carcinogen.
Alcoke sealants release during the curing process methyl alcohol. It’s also nice, but in order to inhale even to the point of a slight headache, you need to sit with your nose in the material in an unventilated room for several hours in a row.

After completion of the vulcanization process, all silicone sealants become environmentally neutral. Therefore, the choice of material is important first and last only for the health of the master himself and his household.

So, I think it's pretty clear that we don't really need a neutral oxime-curing sealant. Inhalation of acidic fumes may cause injury to the mucous membranes if the product is intended to be used large size. I'm not even talking about instant metal corrosion, which is bad for frame products. But methyl alcohol in small concentrations, on a balcony or under a hood, is almost not scary for us, especially if you stock up on a gas respirator (a mask that filters fumes. The cost on the Internet is somewhere around 220 rubles, I don’t remember exactly, I haven’t used it for a long time).
The only problem is that neutral sealants do not indicate whether they are oxime or alcox. Unless the cheapness and the word “quick-drying” should raise red flags: in theory, this is a sign of oxime. It took me a couple of hours of digging on the Internet to find out the fact that neutral sealants from the company "Macroflex", with which I actually worked, are still alcoholic. However, I also work with acetate “Macroflexes” if the product does not require a lot of material.
Sealants are sold in construction stores and in the construction departments of hypermarkets. They come in tubes and tubes. The cost of a tube (400 grams) uh... to be honest, I don’t remember. Last winter, a tube of Macroflex cost from 170 rubles. It was enough for me for two 1/6 scale dolls (Barbie size).
Must be purchased for the tube special gun for squeezing the sealant out. Pistols come in blue and red. Red ones are good. Cost 54 rubles. The blue ones are cheaper, but you don’t need to take them: your nerves aren’t real, and it’s not good to swear.
However, I do without a pistol at all if I need to. small quantity sealant (for example, on doll shoes - we’ll talk about them next time). I press the bottom with any long hard object like tailor's scissors, a toothbrush or a chisel (whatever comes to hand).

The main thing: do not forget to close the lid tightly after squeezing out the desired portion. Silicone sealants cure under the influence of ambient humidity.

Construction sealants Today there are five colors: translucent colorless, black, white, beige and brown.
I always have a set of four colors (except beige). Mixing them together in different options in itself it gives a good palette, but, of course, this is not enough. Fortunately, sealants work very well with dyes. For which I personally use expired or simply cheap cosmetics from the series “that no one will approach in the store.” Cash register owners at Auchan are not supposed to experience any emotions other than joy at the sight of another customer, but I hope that my visits bring nice variety. Of course, because I don’t explain why I need forty-three boxes of Marilyn eyeshadow, eighteen jars of Fennel powder and two bottles carrot juice"Teddy".
What does juice have to do with it? Just for the beauty of the composition. And I also drink it.
Of course, I use powder so that I don’t have to worry about reproducing different skin tones when making a doll. And shadows are mainly for drawing on the finished product.

Basic methods of work.

As already mentioned, sealants can be handled in different ways. You can sculpt, you can cast into molds, you can brush on different surfaces.
For sculpting a sealant mixed with some filler is used. I like to use starch. I accidentally discovered a pack of corn starch, so I... You just have to take into account that the density and elasticity of the finished product depends on the amount of filler: the more filler there is, the denser and less elastic the product turns out after hardening.
Even when mixed with filler, sealants remain quite sticky. But no problem. Vaseline or glycerin applied to fingers large quantities, makes it easy to solve the problem. Oils do not affect the quality of silicone in any way, since oil is still used in the sealant as a plasticizer.
Which is amazing. Even after the product has cured, new layers (no matter pure silicone or mixed), if they are necessary for finishing appearance, are applied to the frozen surface seamlessly and stick tightly. Even if I didn’t bother to degrease anything there first.

Example of a sculpted model:

For casting into molds Either pure sealant or diluted sealant is used. The most common type of mold is plaster. To prevent silicone from getting stuck in them forever, various release agents are used, which are applied to the molds before pouring silicone into them. I use regular Vaseline. In molds, construction silicone hardens completely in two to three days, depending on the size of the product. My largest products were, as already mentioned, dolls up to 30 cm tall. Therefore, I cannot say how long it will take for a life-size pumpkin to dry.

Akhtung. The main disadvantage of sealant for sculptors is its shrinkage. Even undiluted sealant, after curing, will shrink over time, which can significantly adjust the artist’s plan, by the way, not always for the worse. The effect is corrected by applying a new layer. The shrinkage of diluted sealant increases in direct proportion to the amount of thinner.

I use white spirit to thin sealants. Xylene will most likely work too. Thus, in particular, I make mixtures for painting (a drop of sealant, a teaspoon of white sprit, Marilyn eye shadow/Ruby Rose blush), since you can only paint a silicone product with silicone. No, I don't believe in acrylic. I heard it, but I don't believe it. After painting, wash brushes with the same white spirit).

Application by brush on various surfaces. Of course, it is absolutely impossible to apply undiluted silicone with a brush, no matter what. Therefore, after application, the surface is smoothed by hand - using the same glycerin or Vaseline. Construction sealants are completely indifferent to latex, so you can work with thin medical gloves. But nitrile or neoprene are better, because the latex from the sealant melts a little.
As you might guess, I regularly forget about safety precautions. However, after I once accidentally tasted epoxy resin in a creative reverie, everything is already purple for me. But the skin on your fingers gets rougher from fiddling with silicone, and your manicure gets ruined, that’s for sure. So beware.
I usually apply silicone to fabric to imitate leather: for the cover of doll books, for handbags or shoes. After the outer layer has set, impressions can be made on the surface - patterned or simply textured.

Here, for example, is a book and shoes:

(Girls' shoes are made of a different material)

I am sure that the techniques I have listed are only part of what you can do with this wonderful material. But I pass the baton of research to you, go for it - and more and more new horizons will open up before you.

Technical characteristics of products made from silicone sealant. Repair methods.

This is perhaps the most inspiring section of the lecture.
Because products made from this material
- do not melt even with a soldering iron
- do not respond to household chemicals, including solvents.
- do not stain from fabrics (felt pens, ink)
- do not age like some other elastomers
- don't fight
- do not scratch
- environmentally neutral
This positive series has its downsides. As many have already understood, since these products do not scratch, it means that they cannot be sanded or, say, melted to smooth out surface defects. This is only possible by adding a new layer, which is not always good, and therefore working with silicone sealants requires a certain dexterity and a fair amount of precision.
Dolls made from construction silicone have a limited, although quite large, degree of mobility. The fact is that sealants have a low “elongation to break” coefficient and a fairly high degree of rigidity (according to my personal feelings, about 25 Shore A units). As a result, attempts to raise the doll's arms up often ended in tears in the armpits. The only consolation was that to correct such damage, the owner did not even need to send the doll to me. Silicone sealant adheres perfectly to the same sealant, and the number of survivors after overhaul is still suspiciously large: many people have unused building materials lying around in their closets. Therefore, playing hospital online was even fun sometimes.
And in nature there is a wonderful cyanoacrylate glue “Moment - Super-Profi” in triangular bottles. According to safety precautions, if a drop of it disappears on the skin, you should immediately call a priest to the house for confession and last parting words, because nothing else will help the victim. So, this “super pro” is simply ideal for repairing products made from silicone sealant. To be honest, I was absolutely sure that it would glue everything in the world, but when I finally betrayed the flexible sealant with capricious medical compounds, I was terribly disappointed, because...

The first fruit of my betrayal:

However, this, as they say, is a completely different story.

Good day!
After much thought, I finally decided to “bring out” my silicone young ladies. I have been making dolls all my adult life, but until recently I was not satisfied with the results, quickly becoming disillusioned with own works. And at the beginning of this year I tried to make dolls from silicone and felt - this is my thing, with this material you can achieve amazing results, although, of course, the path to perfection will be very long and thorny.

While I am at the very beginning of this path, I am developing technology and very often fail, wasting my nerves and expensive material, but I do not allow myself to become discouraged and get back to work.
To date, I have completed three dolls (unsuccessful castings do not count), and the fourth is still in shape and waiting for tomorrow morning, when its fate will be decided. Maybe tomorrow will be a good day for me, or maybe the unsuccessful carcass will go into a box with defective castings. Don't know…

It all started with the creation of a master model. I made it from scratch, studying materials on anatomy. After a month of work, this faceless girl was born, who became the progenitor of all my silicone dolls.

Then there was the dreary work of removing the mold, the first failures with casting, and then two nameless young ladies were born, who, having barely escaped the plaster captivity, hurried to sunbathe in the sun, and at the same time take a photograph for memory. They borrowed wigs from their older friend, didn’t have clothes yet, and put on make-up hastily, just to quickly participate in the photo shoot.

And then it was time for make-up. Working with silicone dyes has its own specifics; of course, I have never worked with them, and therefore I had to experiment a lot, sometimes not very successfully. Then came hair stitching and costume creation.

And after a long introduction, let me introduce Ninnet and Sasha, my first silicone girls.

I managed to photograph Sasha only before she went to bed, because the girl looked a little sleepy and had a careless outfit.

Well, the third girl, Kemma, is still not dressed, I’m about to finish her outfit and then I’ll tell you more about her. Kemma deserves such attention - she has a very unusual fate, and life was full of mysterious adventures. After all, this is not just a doll, but a character of two mystical stories, but I'll tell you about this next time...

DIY silicone mold. Master class

Hi all!

A variety of molds and molds are used in many types of needlework - this includes modeling, soap making, making candles, jewelry, etc. Buy a lot different forms and Moldova can be quite expensive, and sometimes you simply don’t have what you need. Therefore, of course, inventive craftsmen and craftswomen have long been preoccupied with how to make molds and forms on their own, and even from simple materials. One of the simplest and effective ways is the production of molds from silicone sealant. They convey and retain the given shape well, are quite durable and practical.

I want to show you two master classes from different authors on making molds from silicone sealant - they will clearly demonstrate how simple this process is. Enjoy watching!

Attention! All work with silicone sealant should be carried out in a ventilated area!!

The first master class on making a three-dimensional dragon mold from Audrey Obscura (instructables.com).

We will need construction silicone sealant with a gun, dishwashing detergent, an object for the mold

Pour water into a bowl and add detergent to the water (at the rate of 1 part detergent to 10-15 parts water), stir.

Now, using a gun, squeeze the sealant into the water.

And now we need to “knead” the silicone like dough :) We put our hands in the water and collect the silicone in a pile, knead it, stretching it slightly

When the silicone becomes homogeneous and dense enough, pull it out of the water and begin creating the mold.

To create the shape, we wrap our dino with sealant :)

For fast hardening The dinosaur in silicone was placed in the refrigerator. After an hour, the form can be removed.

The mold was subsequently used to make a glowing dragon out of resin (I think epoxy). Fluorescent was added to the resin and three LEDs were inserted.

Second master class from Francesca from Birmingham (fallfordiy.com)

Making a mold for bracelets

The materials are the same - sealant, detergent and mold

Prepare water with detergent (1 to 10). Squeeze the silicone into the water and leave it to float for about 5 minutes. After that, make a ball out of it.

Place silicone in plastic container- do not dry the silicone before this step; it should be covered with soapy water. Press the second shape on top. Leave for several hours.

This is the result. Francesca uses the same method to make silicone molds for soap and candles.

Silicone molds and forms can also be made by mixing silicone sealant and starch in equal parts. In this case, you get denser molds :) Have fun creating!

And a little useful information

Ivanovo manufacturers of fabrics and fabric products have been delighting their customers with consistently excellent quality, versatility and modern models. Company " Darina"specializes in sewing fashionable and comfortable home clothes from knitwear, the models can be viewed. The company's specialists closely follow fashion trends and trends, so the assortment is constantly updated, customers also note high quality clothing and ease of care. You will find a wide variety of models here. women's clothing for a home of any size. Use it!

I wish everyone good luck and endless creative inspiration!!