I’ll be honest – I’m not sure if I’ll be able to pull this off. I mean… look at him! There’s armor, horns, skulls, chains, glowing runes, and other such accoutrements of the spooky warlock variety. Oh, and he’s a gnarly old green orc.

But can you imagine how awesome it would be to pull it off?!?! This is the madness that is cosplay.

The plan is to make this cosplay for my husband. So, to tackle this somewhat panic inducing project, I’m going to break it down into phases and take them on one at a time. It’ll be done when it’s done, if I can do it at all. The first “phase” on the list (which is a doozy in it’s own right): turning my husband into a gnarly old orc.

My test subject…er… I mean husband

Gul’dan’s Face

I’m going to attempt to make a full-face prosthetic. A full-face prosthetic is a big jump in skill level for me, but it’s a challenge that I want to try. Before I can start making anything, I’ll need a face to work from. Time for a little body casting!

Mats list:

Alginate (specifically Alja Safe Acrobat)
Plaster of Paris
Rice
Various mixing bowls
Latex Rubber (specifically Rub-r-mold)

Alja Safe Acrobat is a fiber reinforced alginate that’s designed to work better with vertical surfaces (like faces). It’s a bit more goopy than I thought it would be, but it holds together better than other alginates I’ve used for other smaller projects in the past.

The stuff sets up in 8 minutes (more if you use colder water). If you use it, peel it off carefully. The directions recommend creating a shell to help the alginate maintain the correct shape, but…. I guess I’m lazy. I used rice in a big shallow mixing bowl.

And now the plaster…

And now, a retrieving the face! Woot!

Believe me, I’d love to get started sculpting Gul’dan’s face RIGHT MEOW, but I’ve learned that reckless enthusiasm can make for more problems down the line, especially if something goes wrong. So, as a little insurance for myself, I’m making ANOTHER mold from this plaster face, just so that in case something happens, I can make another plaster face. This time, the mold is made out of a rubber latex. The stuff stinks, but it’s sturdy. You paint it on one coat at a time, and slowly build it up to a good thickness. …my house is going to smell like ammonia for a while 🙁