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?