Casting In Silicone

Once the armatures and two part moulds were made, I then prepped my workstation for the silicone process.
I began by mixing the silicon with the desired pigment and a tiny amount of cure accelerator.  I layered this mix into the mould, working up in several layers until I have created a skin almost 1mm thick.

Once these had dried, I then placed the armature in the mould, brought both sides of the mould together and finally poured in a softer silicone; which I used in order to reduce any resistance when moving the puppet's joints when it came to animating.

I braced each side of the moulds to minimize silicone leakage and reduce potential flashing on the final cast.

The moulds themselves appeared dirty once they were cast.  I believe that this is due to the conditions I had to cast them in.  As the University had temporarily closed their moulding/casting room, I had no other choice but to cast the resin outside.  Despite working under cover, the moister in the air resulted corrupted moulds.  The cracks and imperfections could be repaired with miliput. 

I wrapped the joints of the armature in tape to ensure that the silicone would not interfere with the movement.

I placed the armature carefully into position in the mould, ensuring that the joints were positioned correctly so that they would bend correctly on the final cast.