Our Ripped Face Prosthetic was one of the one of the most comprehensive we had made for our shop in 2010. Not a large piece and not difficult to apply, but we decided that the detail and depth of this piece needed to be much more advanced than any appliances we had made before.

Our Ripped Face Prosthetic is now made in both single use and reusable materials

It started as a dream. Yes, an actual dream. In this dream, Tom was applying a new prosthetic but during the application the progress couldn’t be seen; Tom ‘had his back to the camera’ the whole time obscuring the view (he has since developed more professional habits both in real life and the dream realm). When he stepped away, the look that was revealed was a sort of one sided joker prosthetic, not healed and far more jagged.

Tom started on the sculpt for the piece the next day and once he had it roughed out in clay, the concept developed into something far more complex – he added different layers of fat and muscle tissue as well as ripped skin, but it was when he added teeth to the edge around the mouth that the design really came together.

The sculpt for the Ripped Face Prosthetic took around 3 days

Sculpt done, mould made, and the first casting was applied to our ever-ready zombie model, Graham Hay. This was back in the days before we had a dedicated prosthetics workshop, so the application was done in Toms conservatory where there was plenty of daylight to ensure that the paint job looked right – painting prosthetics under certain artificial lights can result in too much yellow, red or green being added which looks fine indoors but once the model steps outside for photos, it looks all wrong. We decided to film the process, which turned out to be a wise choice.

Our Ripped Face Prosthetic application video would become of our most popular uploads

The application video was one of our first so there was no music, but it was the first time we decided to take the camera off the tripod to get close up shots of the application. We wanted to film it so anyone watching would feel like they were in the room with Tom, looking over his shoulder as he worked. The video was edited and uploaded to our YouTube channel, and we watched the views rise daily.

After a few days video views exploded. People around the world had picked it up and shared it; we were getting so many comments, emails and orders it became difficult to keep track, and our photos began appearing all over the internet including in SFX magazines list of ‘Top 30 Walking Dead Inspired Products We Want to Own’. It even appeared on the Steelbook edition of Dead Island Riptide as the focal point for their lead zombie.

The prosthetic featured on the cover of Dead Island Riptide

To date, the video has had in excess of 2.3 million views and the prosthetic has sold in its thousands to every corner of the globe. We’ve created dozens more zombie prosthetics for the online shop since then, but this still remains one of our favourites and a favourite with our customers. Check out the video below; if you’d like to have a go at applying this prosthetic yourself, you can buy it here – and if you do, don’t forget to show us photos of your application!

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We love hearing from Nimba Creations customers, Cosplayers, Actors, Movie Makers and Makeup FX artists at every stage of their career. If you’ve got a question or comment about our products, Makeup FX or want to show off your lastest creation you can contact us via our Facebook Page.