Help with Detailed Wet Forming / Molding

[Foxen]

Hiya fellow crafters.

Im attempting to create a “corset” type piece wet molded with a great deal of detail as I’m going for a high end finish.

Im struggling to understand how I could get detailed impressions of the human anatomy (like the neck, rib and spine detail in the example pics I’ve attached) with a simple plastic mannequin used for a mold. 
 

I guess the ultimate question I have is; how do you think I could achieve the finer details that are molded or formed into the leather in the example pics I’ve attached?

Thank you very much in advance

 

photo credit: Instagram @jaciandcane

[fredk]

Build up the features with scrap leather and duck tape. Exaggerate them. Then when the leather is moulded over them the exaggeration is lost due to the thickness of the leather

[JohnSmith48]

Foxen -

if you are working with a plastic mannequin, you can add detail with plaster or Bondo and sculpt the accents.  vacuum forming the leather to the model is recommended but that is separate tutorial in itself.

have you ever worked with Plaster of Paris ?? if you wanted to use a real life human form, you can make a plaster cast, similar to a broken arm cast, out of plaster and cloth for reinforcement, that will be your negative cast. once hard on the body, you remove it and let it air dry for a couple of weeks.  use that as a mold to make make the "positive" cast for the wet molding of your leather.  plaster can be hand-sculpted and accentuated - limited only to your imagination.

there are certain procedures that must be followed in this technique but worth the trouble if that is what you really want to do.  the dried plaster must be sealed with shellac, a mold release applied before casting the positive.  and the positive mold needs to be sealed before letting the leather touch it for molding. 

a lot of research needs to go into a project like this before you start - but that is what I would do, if I wanted a finished duplicate of real life body parts like you describe.  practicing on the mannequin first is an excellent idea.

Edited December 30, 2019 by JohnSmith48

[chrisash]

Would you need to make a positive  cast as you only need the inside of it to mold the leather. That way you get all the skin detail from the cast. myself I would use a vacuum method of tightly fitting the leather to the cast with a thin sealant between the leather and cast