Homemade Ballistic Gel - A New Hope

Ross being Ross-ish

After the unsurprising failure of my first attempt to make ballistics gel I headed to a costume sale hosted by two friends of mine who work in the film industry, Ross and Aaron, better known as Ross of Swords and The Mr Dark.

Aaron's morning after face

After dropping some coin on a doublet, breaches and pirate-slut shirt, I mentioned to Mr Dark that I was trying to make ballistics gel.  He got on the phone and called a friend of his in the industry.  He wanted to know what recipe I had used.  His response? "Fail." Big surprise.

He was kind enough to give me HIS recipe. 1 part 300 Bloom Gelatin from Xenex Labs, 1 part Sorbitol, and 1 part Glycerin.

I'm not sure if I just mix it all together and let it sit, or heat it up, or add water.  So I've texted Mr Dark to ask.  Regardless, I can now go out and procure these ingredients. Xenex doesn't have any prices posted, but a search reveals a cost of about $12.00/lb for 300 Bloom Gelatin on a motion picture supplier site.

While I wait for Monday to roll around so I can reach out to Xenex, I gave some thought to my molds.  I was originally thinking I could use manikin parts as molds.  I could cut them in half and then reseal them together with a bit of silicone gel and duct tape.  I need to do this so I can get the finished product out of the molds without destroying the molds.

Richard made this for me

This is an actual
representation of my
youthful torso

I have a manikin on which I keep my armour to ensure it retains its shape. I don't want to destroy it, nor do I want to start by making several cubic feet worth of gel and filling a manikin torso.

Then I found Halloween hands and feet at a dollar store.  Seemed like a better idea to start small.  I can cut them in half, leaving the last third intact, and reseal them as described above.

These limbs are girl-sized
rather than man-sized

But now that I have an idea what all this stuff is going to cost me, filling a torso with gel seems both expensive and unnecessary. I could and should give them some type of foam core and pour the gelatin around the core, saving time, money, and probably creating a better simulation of a body-part.  And as a bonus who knows how Styrofoam or Insulating Foam Sealer will respond to Glycerin?

Homemade ballistic gel

Edible treat

 These are my gelsicles. 1 part gelatin, 1 part pectin and 3 parts boiling water.

For my first attempt at ballistic gel I used 1/4 cup each of gelatin and pectin, and 3/4 of a cup of boiling water.  I premixed the pectin and gelatin together in a separate bowl.  I measured out 3/4 cup of boiling water into a preheated pot and slowly poured the gel/pectin mix into it, stirring all the while.  After it began bubbling I stirred like mad for a couple minutes then took it off the heat.  I sprayed the popsicle molds with pam and poured the mix in.

I covered the top of the mold with cellophane and popped the sticks through and set the whole mess aside to cool.

They pulled out quite easily the next day.  They had an interesting texture and were holding together strongly.  But they felt wobbly and too much like Jello and not like what I think Ballistic Gel should feel like. Mind I've only handled it once.

Not a puddin' pop

The hivemind recommended pretty much what the internet had already told me. I pulled out the sticks and threw the gelsicles back in the pot on a low heat.  They melted quickly and I brought it to slow boil and stirred for a couple minutes.  Re-pammed the molds, poured and put in the fridge this time. I got about a third less out of the pot after reboiling it.

A couple hours later I pulled them out.  These were better, much more resilient.  I wasn't sure how it would hold up in a large mass; if it would collapse on itself or break under its own weight. I want them to be more rubbery.

The right tool for the job

Purple dye from art stick

Knowing I wasn't there yet, I wanted to know how far from "there" I was. So I got out a large kitchen knife and took a swing at it.  I laid the gelsicle flat on my lovely butchers block and dropped a light snap of the blade into it in a purely percussive manner.  Barely felt the gel.  Worse, the gel kind of disintegrated and bits fell off.  Conclusion: it's shite.

I don't think it will retain it's ultimate shape - that is to say - torsos, arms, heads, etc, in it's current state. It's... chunky. Needs to be more... viscous. Here's a picture of my 8 year old boy taking a swing at it. He wanted to take another shot at it to get the "bone"

That'll teach it for sucking

Ultimately I think the test for this stuff needs to be the finger poke test. What I mean by that is it needs to resist the pincer action of forefinger and thumb in a resilient manner rather than simple separate into chunks.

Chunky