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Permalink Reply by Christopher Reed on December 10, 2010 at 1:17pm

We just did this in the summer and I found some great advice online, can't remember where, but here's what I did and it worked very well (wouldve been even better with someone more competent than myself on makeup)---

Cast the actors face into plaster

Use resin and fiberglass cloth to make a partial mask off of the mold that would cover the nose and cheekbones all the way up to the ears

Then, get a 20mL syringe and a 60mL syringe and connect them with tubing(this creates a primitive hydraulic pump)

Mount the 20mL syringe onto the fiberglass mask with the growing part of the syringe facing out (this is the underskull of the growing nose)

The actor keeps the 60mL syringe hidden in a pocket or wherever

Next you make a silicone rubber overmask to cover the underskull. To do this you do a negative cast and then cast the rubber into that. You will need to add pigment to the silicone. Make sure to not make the silicone too thick--it makes it too difficult for the syringe to push it out.

This overmask should fit perfectly over the underskull. I sewed my overmask on and resecured it with more rubber on top, but like I said: a more skilled makeup artist might be able to think of something more clever.

This worked great for us. I found this idea somewhere else online, and they had very clear instructions for it--definitely worth looking for. If I find the link or the instructions I will get them to you.