Doing a full body cast on a person is a long and grueling process for both the artists and the model. It is generally done is several stages to ensure the comfort and well-being of the person who is getting cast.

The Ripley’s F/X team will generally start either with the legs, or the upper body and work their way through the rest of the body. Usually, both legs are done simultaneously, but in this case they did each leg separately.

The process is always similar. First some vaseline is applied to areas with hair or clothing (like underwear) to avoid the blue rubber layer to stick to the person. The blue molding gel is then spread all over the section of the body being worked on. It is a viscous gelatinous goop. It is the element that captures all the details and features of the model. Once the gel sets enough, plaster bandages are applied over it to create a hardened shell around the cured gel layer. Lastly, after a few minutes of drying and hardening, both the cast and the blue rubber-gel is peeled off the model.

Ripley’s F/X team will make wax figures of wildly-transformed woman on September 15

Like many women, Maria Jose Cristerna decided to get a makeover after a difficult chapter in her life – but no other woman in the world has gone through a makeover like this.

Cristerna has transformed herself into a vampire, complete with fangs and horns on her head. She’s now known around the world as the Mexican Vampire Woman. What might be more amazing than her appearance is the fact that she’s a lawyer.

She’s a graduate of UNIVA, a private Catholic university in Mexico, and practiced law before starting her own business.

Before - In Between - Today

Former attorney turned into vampire (wait ... isn't that the same?)

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! is bringing the Mexican Vampire Woman to its headquarters in Orlando, where Ripley’s F/X team will take body casts of her and create life-size figures for Ripley’s Believe It or Not! attractions around the world.

The Mexican Vampire Woman

How Does Body Casting Work?

It is a long and physically demanding process and generally is done in a 2-day session (8hrs each day+ or -). Detailed photos are taken of the model to reference later during the sculpting period.

The casting process begins by adding a think layer of a special silicone to the area of the model that is to be cast. The head is usually one of the first things to be done as it is the most uncomfortable part of the entire process. Once the silicone has set enough, then actual cast strips are added on top of the silicone and allowed to quickly dry. Then entire thing is then removed from the model’s body.

The Rest of the Process

The same process is then repeated for the rest of the body. Usually the torso and arms are done together, and finally the hips, legs and feet. By the time the body casting is completed, the artists inside Ripley’s F/X department have exact duplicates of the model that will later be used as the blueprints for the clay modeling and wax figure making process. The silicone molds from the original body cast session are precise down to the pores in the skin, whiskers, wrinkles, and any other feature of the model. They are truly unbelievable!