Compound Fracture Flatbed Mould

Starting with the sculpt, I had trouble finding real medical compound fracture medical images. Google wasn't giving me anything but X-rays or diagrams. I went to someone I trusted most: Todd Debreceni. Knowing he is the man to go to from his Mishap Monday series on his Instagram, where he posts traumas and talks about them. Without expecting a response, I messaged Todd Debreceni on Instagram, crying out for help with where to find medical injury photos. He responds to me almost immediately, guiding me through Firefox as it filters trauma less than other internet search engines. Todd to the rescue!!

After gathering up my gross reference images of tibial compound fractures, I started sculpting. I don't know if I wasn't in the right headspace, but my first sculpture WAS NOT what I wanted. Realism left the room, and so did my knowledge of how big a tibia bone is. You'd expect me to know, as I'm qualified in Anatomy and Physiology! I moulded it anyway and brushed it off as a trial and a learning experience.

Pictured on the left is the outcome of this trial flatbed.

As i wasn't happy with my first attempt I decided to sculpt a new compound fracture. This one featured added realism, with exposed muscle and a larger bone more fitting for a tibia.

However, as shown above, the cap plastic edge was quite large, making it impractical for use. In mould making, it is essential to consider such details carefully to ensure the next department can apply the prosthetic easily.

This led me to moving the flashing closer to the sculpt for a much smaller blending edge as seen below.

Once I was finally happy with my sculpt I was ready to mould it again, hoping it will be the final attempt. I used Platsil Gel 10 silicone for the mould as I didn't want it to be too hard due to the sculpt having some undercuts. In my opinion, having softer silicone helps in de-moulding.

Once the mould was set, it was ready to be de-moulded, cleaned out and casted. My first cat out of a mould is always a cleaning out cast. I make sure to do extra layers of cap plastic on the mould to make sure it picks up any and all clay that I was unable to get out. I don't deaden the silicone for this process and usually just use Platsil gel 10.

For the final cast, I used Platsil gel 10 silicone deadened by 60% to make it slightly softer to aid the de-moulding process. Additionally, deadening the prosthetic aids the process of application depending on which area of the body you apply it to as its softer and bends to the shape of the body.

The final mould and cast are pictured below.

To summarise, flatbed moulds may look like the easiest yet they are actually quite difficult to master. Thinking they're easy can actually be a disadvantage and you can become lazy within the mould-making which does no one any favours.

Thank you for reading!