VH1 Pilot, Page Five

Even MORE about making a James Brown bobblehead.
When the plaster mold is hard and dry (below left), it's held tightly together with a large rubber band (cut from an inner tube). Now, some of the casting material, neoprene, is carefully poured in, and the mold is rotated to make sure all the inside surfaces get covered. Then the mold is completely filled to the top with neoprene, and left to sit from 2-4 hours to build up the thickness of the neoprene inside the mold. The neoprene is then poured out, and allowed to set up inside the mold for 12-14 hours. After 12-14 hours, the mold is seperated, and the casting of the head is carefully pulled out. At this stage, the neoprene is still very flexible, so it can be pulled out of any undercuts in the mold. 
finished plaster mold
two James Brown heads
Above right, two castings of the James Brown head. The one on the left has been out of the mold for 24 hours, the one on the right was just popped out of the mold. You can see two things about neoprene: it becomes a sort of peachy color when it sets completely, and it shrinks 10-20%. This means you have to make your original sculpt 10-20% LARGER than you want the finished product. That's a bit of a pain, but neoprene is one of the least toxic casting materials available, and easily trimmed, sanded, and painted, so that helps tips the scales in its favor as a choice of materials.

Page Six: The Finished Product --->

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Photos from Private Collection of Rick Lyon
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