Bald Cap creation

After ordering some supplies from Kryolan including Glatzan L latex, I set about making my own bald cap. This was easier said than done, the main problem I still have is removing the bald cap from the plastic head without it ripping. On my second attempt it was slightly easier as I'd used about 8 layers instead of 6 but I think there are rough parts on the plastic head which the latex seems to firmly stick to.

First attempt:

As you can see the front is completely ripped - the bald cap was also too small.

Second attempt:

This turned out a heck of a lot better, particularly as I used a petroleum jelly which wasn't tinted (that was a mistake in the first one) and I used a few more layers. It still had problems though - my plastic head which I found on ebay has little ears which are a nightmare when I'm trying to peel off the bald cap. For this second attempt I tried to avoid the ears completely hoping that the holes would fall naturally where my ears are. This was close but didn't work out exactly...

Bald cap still a bit small and edges were a mess. Still I set about trying to stick some of it on just to see what I looked like.

The actual material is very transparent as you can see here - next time I will use a bit of gel for those wispy hairs at the front.

I only stuck a very small part down at the front, partly to save spirit gum and partly because the edges were poor and the cap was too small to trim further.

My third attempt is the most successful so far. To smooth out the rough edges on the plastic head I gave it a rub with acetone, here you can see where my poor plastic head has lost the colour in one eye because of this.

However it was the most difficult to remove, perhaps because I left it to dry for an hour after applying the second coat. One thing I experimented on was whether you could seal the plastic head with PVA, this didn't work for me as the PVA wants to stick to the latex and if it comes of with the latex it is very brittle and won't stretch with it.

You can see my most recent attempt here, along with my makeshift workstation complete with one-eyed plastic mannequin head!

A little note - I find that cheap sponges from the supermarket cut into thirds are the best for applying Glatzan L and talcum powder is just as good as using expensive translucent powder when it comes to removing the cap.

I will be attempting to fit a model with this bald cap in the near future.