Making and Applying Bald Caps

Latex bald caps are commonly used for life casting and in prosthetic makeups. Here we look at three ways to make caps quickly and inexpensively.

How to apply a latex bald cap to a subject with long hair in preparation for a full head life cast with ears out. This technique involves pulling the hair into a ponytail and wrapping it so it can be kept external to the bald cap, allowing the cast to capture the head shape as closely as possible. This approach is best for creating head casts for dummy heads or for producing skull caps for animatronics. This bald cap application also deals with how to modify a cap that is too large for the subject.

Application of a latex bald cap with ears under the cap for a face cast. How to deal with long hair and how to define the area to be cast using water-based makeup.

Application of a plastic bald cap on a male subject with short hair in preparation for a full head life cast with ears out. The same basic process can also be followed for applying bald caps for use in a makeup to create a bald head effect.