TUTORIAL - Bald Caps

Bald Cap and paintwork on 05.09.12
Model: Katherine Barrett

I’d like to welcome you all to the wonderful world of Bald Caps.  To most, the idea of making someone appear as though they have no hair is quite befuddling, but once you break the process down it’s really quite simple.  By simple, however, I do not by any means suggest a quick or fast process…

Many popular characters throughout film and television history have worn bald caps.  Some bald caps have been for the most basic purpose of making an actor or actress appear as though they have shaved their head.  On the other end of the scale – they have also been used to create the more complex fantasy and sci-fi creatures.  Regardless of the purpose or character being created the process up until the final makeup application remains the same.  First thing first, we start with the manufacturing of the latex bald cap itself.

Step 1 - Template: First of all you must (or should for accuracy) measure your actor or actresses head – this ensures that the bald cap finishes at the appropriate point on their forehead or eyebrows, depending on whether eyebrow block out is also being done.  These measurements are taken by wrapping your helpless actors head in gladwrap, covering that in sticky tape then drawing in the eyebrows, hairline and any other important features.

This, now firm, template of their head is then transferred onto a ‘Red Head’ which is a dummy head used for making bald caps.  Once the relevant features are marked onto the Red Head and you’ve decided how far down you want the latex to come you can start the delightful stage of coating the Red Head in several layers of latex.

Step 2 - Manufacture: This step wouldn’t be so bad if you didn’t have to dry and powder each coat – causing the length of the process to be dragged out significantly.  First of all you MUST coat the Red Head in Vaseline – otherwise you will never get the bald cap off!  Then, using a tight weave sponge (open weave will leave a rough surface to the bald cap) you can then coat the required area with a layer of latex, dry with a hair dryer and powder over it to seal it.  You repeat this 7 times, any more and it will be too thick, any less and it will be too weak and likely tear.

The most important thing to remember is that the front edge that frames the face will need to be thin, smooth and have no imperfections.  In order to achieve this you will need to taper the edge by placing each layer a few millimetres back from the previous edge.  On the 4th and last layers you can extend it back out to the first edge for reinforcement.

Step 3 - Red Head Removal: Once you have done the hard yards and powdered your freshly manufactured bald cap you then have to leave it to rest overnight – don’t be impatient or you will regret it.  With fresh eyes and a firmly set bald cap you can now remove it from the Red Head.  Using a flat, thin brush and some powder gradually flick the edges free, starting from the base of the neck.  It is vital that you do not go anywhere near the front edge until you have worked your way around from the base – you do not want to destroy this edge.

As you free the edges you should then be able to easily peel back the rest of the bald cap, ensuring that each newly exposed section of the underside of the bald cap is powdered before progressing any further.  If you avoid this step your bald cap may stick to itself and you will be left with something that is about as much use as a dead fish.

Sam Porzionatos' work

Step 4 - Hair Flattening: Now you should have something that resembles a scalp, which means you’ve reached the more interesting part.  Take a large amount of professional grade gel, the kind that sets like concrete and slick back your actors’ hair.  Ensure to pay close attention to any ‘fly-away’ hairs around the ear and front hairline as you need this area to be as neat and tidy as possible.

Sam Porzionatos' work

Step 5 - Application: Place the bald cap on your actors head, twisting and pulling until the placement is correct.  Ensuring there is enough latex to cover the hairline around the ears, glue the bald cap down just behind each ear using Pros-aide to keep it in place.  You can then start to trim the bald cap to fit around the ears and glue just in front of the ear as well. 

Step 6 - Latex Seam: The last of the gluing is along the front hairline, but use it sparingly as you don’t want to have any shiny areas on the forehead.  Now you can make a latex seam to seal and blend the front edge to the forehead – this entails 3-4 light layers of latex that extends just below the line of the bald cap.  This seam should be tapered the same as the bald cap.

My first bald cap, with
eyebrow block out

Step 7 - Bond-o: You can now introduce the marvellous Bond-o, which is a filling agent made from a combination of Pros-aide and Cabosil.  Lightly place this in any holes, gaps or ridges and smooth down with a sculpting tool.  Once dried you’re bald cap has now been applied!

Experimenting with paint splatter
effect using a Kehron Aqua Palette

Step 8 - Underpainting: The next stage is the underpainting – to create that natural skin tone blend between the latex bald cap and the forehead (or eye lids if eyebrows have been blocked out).  You’ll need a Rubber Mask Grease Paint palette as Supra won’t work as well on the latex, isuprophel alcohol, and an open weave sponge.  In order to make the bald cap look like a living thing and not just a dead piece of latex, you need to press red RMGP all over with the sponge to give it the natural undertones of skin.  

Professional Photos COMING SOON

Once you have dried this with a hair dryer and powdered it you can then do a layer of natural RMGP, blended to suit the skin colour of your actors face.  It’s important to continue both of these layers beyond the bald cap edge and onto the natural skin to detract from the edge.  Dry and powder then it’s on to foundation.

Step 9 - Character Makeup:  From here onwards you simply apply foundation and the rest of the makeup you want or need for your character as you normally would.  The photos to the left and right are examples of what I did with my bald cap character makeup.

So you shouldn't be fearful, bald caps are quite easy if you follow the steps.  

Have fun and if anyone gives it a try, let me know how it goes!

Yours in Blood & Gore,

Caity