I coloured some latex a light pink skin colour which I then applied around the eyeball in its socket, I also painted the inside of her mouth while I was at it and once her eyes are set I can get going with a different colour!

I first applied a layer of foam and latex directly onto the skull, covering everything other than the K and S hole where her body will be attached. For the hair surrounding her mouth I sandwiched the bits of wire between two pieces of foam covered latex which I also secured to her face.

Once this was dried I was able to cut around the excess bits of foam to reveal the strands of 'hair' and also cut away the bits of foam in the mouth that had been covering her little teeth.

I then started work on the strands of wire coming out of her head. As these were all higgledypiggledy unlike the straight line of wire in the sides of her face I decided to wrap each strand with a seperate bit of foam at a time.

I'm just waiting for these bits to dry before I can start to colour her...

I had the opportunity to watch a Masters student use foam latex in a mould they had made similar to the one I had created in the casting workshops. The only difference being is that this mould did not have a 'spigget' which is the hole that I used to bung; due to the nature of foam latex this is not needed in your cast.

I used a silicone based substance in my puppet head cast as it is a translucent substance and gives the effect of skin. Foam latex is used as an alternative to silicone when you need to keep the weight down on a puppet and would be well used on the body armature. It is the same as liquid latex but the kit that you buy turns this into foam.

You can buy foam latex from Mouldlife  which sells sillicones, latex and other materials that can be used in animation, film and theatre.

DO NOT DO THIS PROCESS ON YOUR OWN. Two pairs of hands are needed as the foam sets really quickly once mixed.

The foam latex comes with instructions on how to mix the foaming agent, curing agent (which sets it), and the gelling agent (which gives the bubbles a structure). However it is best to use half of the volumes stated as this mixes too much.

Make sure the puppets armature fits into the mould and it can close before you start to mix and substance together

1. Paint the release agent over the whole mould rather than just where the puppet will be. The foam latex will more than likely spill out over the whole mould when the two componants are joined together.
2. You will need a different speed mixer.Mix equal amounts of the latex with the foaming and curing agents for 30 seconds on a slow mix setting and then for 2 minutes, then 4 minutes on faster settings. The latex is thick and heavy so use a spatula to get the heavy material off the bottom of the bowl.
3. Finally add the gelling agent, the warmer the temperature is the faster the gelling agent works so
use less gelling agent than it states - it does not need that much and will set too fast. The bowl contents will be foaming and thickening, should be very smooth and very fine.

4. NOW MOVE VERY QUICKLY! The foam latex has already started to set. Paint a layer into the mould first so that it covers all the detail and fills all the more difficult to reach areas of the mould. Two people should be working on this, one on either side of the mould. Then pour the mixture into bothe sides of the mould.

5. Place the armature into one half of the mould and seel the two pieces together. Leave this to set.

6. Then you need to cook - if you don't cook it will set but it is not very durable or long lasting. Set the oven to 18 degrees. Make sure when you take your mould out of the oven that you don't let it cool too quickly otherwise it will crack and will be unusable.

I rescued this bit of foam latex from the dreggs of the bowl to get a feel of the material. It is a very spongey consistency and bounces back when gripped with your fingers:

I found this online tutorial which goes through the process step by step which is pretty handy: