Making pantomime shoes

Here's a quick and dirty way to knock out a pair of comedy shoes. In this case for a pantomime giant.  This is part of a performance puppet/costume. More on that in a later post...

The shoe fits over existing shoes, and can be secured if required with black tape.



The basic structure is based on a corrugated cardboard base-board that is folded at the shoe end to make a strong structure. This is fairly roughly stapled. Strength is added later with gaffer tape.



To make the shape more rounded, bubble wrap is added. The bigger the bubble size, the lighter the structure, but the more noticeably bumby the texture.



The outside later is black gaffer (duct) tape. This is strong and bonds it all together as well as providing a smooth coloured skin.



The combination of internal stiffness from the card and outer toughness from the tape gives toughness and durability needed for a costume prop, which will take a hammering.



And here you have it... Took about 30 minutes to knock these out.



Feet go in here...



like this...



Not shown here, but added durability and protection was added later using dyed latex. This is standard natural latext which is dyed with craft paint (PVA based), but any water-based paint or ink will do it.
Shown here is a household sponge, used to apply the latex. It needs at least two coats. It can be strengthened by adding other materials. For example, if you have access to fibres from woodworking machines this makes latex extremely strong once set..

First mouldings from Twitr_janus face mask mould

Various latex experiments with the Twitr_janus face mould...

This is the third moulding and is starting to get there looking OK, but the colour is not quite right

This is the second moulding - nice, especially the sawdust reinforcement

Below was the first attempt. Rather optimistically using latex thickener. Some details were lost, mainly the nose, although the end result was outstanding, but perhaps just outstandingly grotesque. I do like this.

Model, mould, moulding...


Removing moulding #2
Removing moulding #2 - looking good

Detail of using nylon cross-stitch mesh to reinforce the latex

Moulding #3. Has an Essex tan

And finally, a time-lapse video of how a moulding is made. Interval is 30 seconds

Making a silicon latex mould for Twitr_janus' face from the clay model

Silicon latex mould of Twitr_janus' face next to the model

Corrugated cardboard is your friend

To make a sturdy mould, cardboard from old boxes and tape are pretty unbeatable.

Here, the original clay model was placed on a cardboard sheet and used as a template to create a baseboard for the mould to add walls onto.

Making the mould walls

Corrugated cardboard can be made to create a flexible mouldable surface, that is rigid in one plane, and flexible in another. This can be done by pulling it over a corner to break the rigidity. The corrugations need to be in line with the edge you are using.

The effect of this can be seen below (left). Once so treated, the cardboard can be shaped fairly easily to create moulding walls. By making small cuts, along an edge fold, tabs can be made to anchor these walls to the baseboard (below, right)















To make the mould, the baseboard and walls were fixed with gaffer tape, inside and out

Making the mould

This mould was made with a proprietary silicon moulding agent from the legendary sculpture supplier Alec Tiranti  http://www.tiranti.co.uk/subdivision_product_list.asp?Subcategory=51&Subdivision=174
Be warned, the setting agent is evil. Treat with extreme caution if you like wildlife. It has a rather scary disclaimer, so responsible disposal is a good idea!

















If you pour latex straight, you need to make sure you have enough of  it. Here, the latex was built up in three layers to save cost. This allows you to add latex to the parts that protude.

The latex was left for 2 days to set completely. Then the cardboard was cut off and the mould eased off the model.




























The mould will have rough edges. These were trimmed with scissors to give the final mould - Voila!