But most dead bodies would probably go through another process, with the meat drying out and shrinking, and the skin drying and tightening. That's the difference between a skeleton and a corpse - the corpse looks like is withered, died, and dried.
And that effect is easily obtained...
Form:
This is the most realistic form on which to construct a corpse, because it starts out as a realistic
skeleton.
It is also rather expensive, so you must ask yourself the question "Do you really need to start
with something that is hyper-realistic, if you are only going to cover it up with glop?"
Blow-molded skeletons go for as little as $8.
They don't look very realistic close up,
but make a lightweight form on which to plop your glop.
It is theoretically possible to build a body shape from scratch, using PVC pipe.
Providing a lot of detail means a lot of work, but this might be OK for clothed figures
where details are hidden.
Covering:
Adhesive:
Phlex-glu was originally used for binding books.
It is strong and flexible.
Evidently, it is no longer available.
But if you find some, it makes a very good corpse.
MTS
offers "MTS flexible glue", a latex glue which remains flexible after drying.
It costs about $18/gal [January 2004].
Rosco
makes Flexbond, a latex glue which remains flexible after drying.
It costs about $27/gal [January 2004].
Sells Bucky skeletons, as well as skulls and skeletal bits that can be combined with cheaper skeletons,
for specially detailed areas.
Sells a complete corpsification kit, with instructions
(http://goregalore.hypermart.net/CorpsificationKit.htm)
for $35 plus $10 UPS shipping (December 2002).
Gore Galore also sells completed corpses, both from stock and made to order.
This is what people expect to see, and probably what you should provide so that they
get what they expect,
but it seldom happens that way in reality.
The "meat on the bones" look somewhat resembles beef jerkey.
But if you take a piece if beef and leave it out on the table for a few days, it doesn't
turn into beef jerkey, it rots.
You only get beef jerkey if you use a smoker or drier to rapidly remove water
from the meat.
A real dead body, left to rot,
bloats up with gasses, and sometimes explodes from them.
I'm sure that you can read up on this elsewhere on the web.
It would be harder to simulate the real process, and I'm not sure you would want to.
Thank you for visiting. Your comments are welcome.
Materials
You need three types of materials: (a) the form (b) the covering (c) the adhesive.
And you have lots of options for each...
You should choose your form carefully - there is not much point to spending $80 for a nice Bucky, and
then completely hiding him under layers of cotton and latex.
Your best bet is to use a cheap form under the parts that are to be totally covered, and use Bucky bits for
the pieces that are partially covered or stick out.
Links
As you might guess, this is not exactly uncharted territory...
- look for "Jerry's Grimoire"
- 3 different corpsification techniques described by
Gore Galore
Sources
In reality
Earlier,we said that most dead bodies would probably go through a process,
with the meat drying out and shrinking, and the skin drying and tightening.
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