SNAKE BITE PROCESS

This post will be a step by step performance of how to make a snake bite mould. 

Step one

• Firstly, start by researching into various of snake bites and how you would like your design to look. 
• Find a flat plastic surface i.e Lid of a lunchbox.
• Next you want to begin to sculpt your design with the clay given you can get this at Neil Materials.
  
• Make sure you model is completely smooth and how you want your end model to look. Every mark on your model will be on your final mould. I would also like to make sure the model is seamless around the edges. You can determine if it is bite rubbing your finger around the side and not feeling anything. 

Step Two

• Making sure you sculpture is exactly how you would like it you then would be able to spray Fixing spray, Recommend to spray near a window as i did this is because you are working in a friendly environment and fumes. Don't spray too much and make sure you spray evenly. 
• Wait until this is a dry, then you will be able to spray petrol lease, once again spray near a window while working with fumes.
• Wait approximately 5 minutes until fuller dry then move to step three. 
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Step Three 

• Next you will need to build a boarder around you sculpture you can either use a plastic cup but if you design if bigger you can make a wall with the clay. 
• I cut a plastic cup in half an used a hot glue gun to make sure this was securely down, as you don't want any leakage or over spill when you apply the silicone. 

Step Four

• Cover your working area with cling film and over the weighing scale you will be using. This help with mess and make silicone much easier to remove if spillages happen. 
• Place a measuring cup onto scales and set scales to zero. 
• Apply your gloves while working out how much silicone you need, making sure you are covering the whole of your sculpt - Various of sculpts may be higher or wider this will determine how much you will need, which is more than something smaller or lower. 
• I used 40grams. This mean you need 40grams of Silicone A. Using a clean stick pour small amounts into the cup until i reached 40grams.
• Wipe around the Silicone A tub and change your gloves. 
• Measure 50grams of Silicone B using a new clean stick and wipe around the Silicone B tub. 
• Mix together well making sure you are removing any air bubbles. 
• Pour over you Sculpt making sure its completely even on your sculpt. 
• If you need to make more quickly repeat a & b but move at a pace your working time is approximately 5 minutes
• Wait and an hour or two until fully dry and move on to step 5

Step Five

• Once the silicone is completely dry, you will be able to remove/break the plastic cup away from the flat plastic surface and remove the mould.
• Next i was able to start making the positive casts but first i needed to clean my mould of any clay or dirt. 
• Using a cotton wool bud or pad and alcohol gently clean the silicone base making sure your removing any dirt or left over clay.
• Spray the Silicone mould with Petrol lease and wait until completely dry. 
• Petrol lease help the positive cast from sticking to the silicone mould. 
• With you clean work area mix together a proportion 2:1 super baldiez and alcohol together to create my first layer of the positive cast. 
• Evenly with a brush layer the mixture onto the silicone, you can do this up to 3 times depending on how thick your mould is. 
• Once this layer was completely dry you then begin to create a the cast using a b & c
• Make sure you wear gloves and changed each time you swap product to avoid contamination. 
• Measuring 12grams of A & B and 1/2 - 3/4 this being 60% of A & B of deadener to create the positive mould
• Work quick as this process can react very quick an set. 
• Before making this section i would suggest getting a correct colour match to your mould. 
• Adding the pigment which matched my model mix well. 
• Begin to pour onto your mould
• scrap away any access mixture around the mould, making sure this is completely flat as it your mould needs to sit completely flat on your models skin.
• Wait until completely dry. 

Step Six

• Once your mould is completely dry you can begin to remove it from the Silicone mould. 
• You will need a soft brush and Talc for this Section 
• Be patient and use as much as talc to help remove the Mould easily. 
• Make sure you don't rip your mould. Be careful!!
• Once you remove you mould its time to apply the mould! 

What did i think of this section? 

This section was extremely technical and i found it very difficult, I never got it right the first time. In fact it probably took me at least 5 times to make a positive mould. 

Evening though this happen this was also an advantage to be able to learn from mistakes, people who managed to get it right first time may not remember the steps in the long run, as me who took 5 times to get it right may remember it in the long run after completely the stages over and over again. When removing the positive cast from the silicone i was extremely impatient but it turn out the petrol lease did not go everywhere and my mould had stuck this resulted in my ripped my Silicone mould. I found it is very important to follow each step very carefully.