It is illegal-and impossible-for adult retailers to sell their favorite porn stars to eager customers for private play at home. But thanks to life-casting, retailers can offer anatomically accurate, realistically toned and textured, full-scale replicas of porn stars, either in full or in part.
Do your customers want to explore Jesse Jane's Insatiable Ass & Pussy? California Exotic Novelties has them covered. Do they fancy Taylor Wane's Hot Vibrating Pussy? Just ask Nasstoys for one. How about Danni Ashe's Fantasy Boobs, complete with their distinctive banana-shaped curve? Hello, Topco! Are they after the long, hard manhoods of Jeff Stryker, John Holmes, Bam, Mr. Marcus, Dean Phoenix or Kong? Just ask Doc Johnson.
"The concept of life-casting is to mold your favorite porn star's body parts so you have an actual mold of her to do what you want with her, what you fantasize about," Jesse Jane says. "The pussy molds and ass molds are the best-sellers, for sure. Men buy them to see what it's actually like fucking your ass and pussy."
"Celebrity replica pieces are incredibly popular right now, and the fascination that the public has for them will never go away," adds Tony Hernandez, Topco Sales' director of research and development. "To think that as you hold a CyberSkin penis molded from
Marco Banderas, with that amazingly realistic feel that only CyberSkin has, that it is exactly what Marco feels like, well, that is truly tantalizing."
What A Life-Cast Is
"Life-casting is the process of creating a three-dimensional copy of a human body and/or body part through the use of molding and various casting techniques," explains J.C. Logan, Doc Johnson's director of research and development. "The most common life casts are of torsos, pregnant bellies, breasts, hands and faces, and it is possible for an experienced life-casting practitioner to copy any part of the body, including the vagina and penis."
In the adult novelty business, customers are most interested in vaginas and penises, as well as parts such as breasts, asses and mouths. The purpose of each product is to let customers have sex with their favorite porn stars without the stars having to be there.
"The process is designed to capture the exact likeness of an individual, in this case, the genitalia of a well-known adult film celebrity," says Al Bloom, Cal Exotics' marketing manager. "If one is so inclined, buying an exact replica of their favorite star's private parts is an extension of the fantasy, and actually using something for gratification that they can imagine was created directly from that person is a real turn-on."
How Life-Casts Are Made
Life-casting begins when "the manufacturer decides which particular porn star's parts are perfect for mass reproduction," Bloom says. "Typically, they choose stars with brand appeal, people whose fans really would like to have sex with them, if they could, and whose name will help brand and sell the life-cast products." Once the star has signed on for the session, he or she gets ready for life-casting, which really is molding. In order to make accurate replicas of their boobs, pussies and cocks, the stars have to have their bodies covered in molding material from which the copies will be made.
Before being molded, the models must shave the body parts to be preserved for eternity-or as long the molding material lasts under regular usage. "We request that they come in preshaved," Hernandez says. "Both men and women need to be totally bare down there. Many of them think that the mixture will stick to them, but it won't, and I almost always have to reassure them that it won't be sticky." This said, many manufacturers apply some kind of lubricant to the model's skin beforehand, just to be sure.
The molding typically is done in a setting akin to a doctor's office. "You get on a table, and they make this heavy gunk, almost like silly putty, and they pour it on your body parts," Jane says. "It gets heavy, by the way, and you sit there for almost half an hour
until it hardens on your body."
The actual composition of the "gunk" varies. "The molding material that we use here at Doc Johnson is alginate, a prosthetic-grade molding material used in the making of prosthetics," Logan says. "The alginate has no strength and must be reinforced to further strengthen and support the mold. At Doc Johnson, we use a plaster bandage tape, the same used by doctors when making a cast around a broken leg. This bandage is laid on the outside of the alginate, creating a cradle."
"I can't tell you exactly what the ingredients are," Hernandez says. "It is a secret recipe that we developed in-house. I can tell you that it has just the right consistency to capture every nook and cranny to create the most realistic pieces on the market. It is nontoxic and totally safe. We call it ‘pancake batter' because that is what it feels like."
"These materials are proprietary, and every company that does castings has a slightly different twist on what they feel works and what doesn't," Bloom says. "I have seen everything from alginates to plaster to latex-based products used. It all depends on who is doing it and the medium they feel most comfortable with. For guys, the fastest-setting products, obviously, are preferred, but again, that's proprietary."
The Experience
The model sits there, covered in gunk for a half-hour or so. "When they apply it, it is icky, as it's cold and wet," Taylor Wane says. "But it dries and then comes off in one piece, so it is only icky for a while."
"The muscles get really tired because the gunk is real heavy and you have to sit there still for a while," Jane adds. "The mold that is the scariest is when they put it on your face, as you can get rather claustrophobic as they cover your entire face."
Women don't have to worry about the molding material going inside them because this area isn't actually cast. "No material is ever placed inside a person's body," Bloom says. "These are exterior castings only. The slight interior detail is created from photos shot beforehand."
Still, to provide good definition, "you use a vibrator to stimulate your clit," Jane says. "It sticks out, and then you mold the lips and clit."
"The object is to create as much blood flow to the area as possible, engorging the clitoris and surrounding tissues," Bloom explains. "After all, this is the way their privates are seen in movies. This is usually done in private and after 10-15 minutes, while the casting materials are being mixed and prepared."
For the guys, the tough part is staying at full extension. "If they can stay hard for at least three minutes, we can get a good impression," Hernandez says. "The batter does tend to decrease them a little. To make sure we get the right length and girth, we measure them at their maximum and compare those dimensions to the mold. If we have to, we can make adjustments to the size of the mold so it is true to life."
Life-Cast Pros
Despite the challenges of life-casting, many porn stars take the process in stride. "Lex Steele comes to mind first," Hernandez says. "He had no problems getting up and staying that way. It was amazing. And for someone like him, who is truly known for being big, it was very important so that his piece would be the right size. Rocco Siffredi also was very impressive. He stayed erect the entire time.
"The most memorable has to be the very first molding I ever did for Topco Sales: Nina Hartley. She did something that no other person has ever been able to accomplish while being molded, and I will never forget it. Once the mixture was prepared and spread over her vagina, she laid back and put both feet high in the air and spread her legs. The amazing thing is she stayed that way, spread-eagle, for a full half-hour while the mixture hardened. She was so relaxed and comfortable. She just kicked back and read a book while she waited.
"I have never since seen any woman who could hold that pose for that long. Most of them start shaking after just a little bit, and sometimes their legs have to be held in place. Nina was just amazing!"
After The Molding
Once the mold is set, the manufacturer's technicians remove it from the grateful model. "If the mold was created in multiple parts, the parts are now sometimes joined back together," Logan says. "The mold itself will sometimes be repaired, altered or added to. Walls may be affixed to help contain the casting material or further mold reinforcements attached."
Next, a casting material is brushed into the mold. "At Doc Johnson, we use a variety of casting materials, including plaster, hydrocal, resin, wax and sometimes an oil-based clay, usually in liquid form," Logan says. "Once the casting material has acquired the shape of the mold and cured fully, the cast is carefully removed from the mold. The first alginate mold seldom survives beyond this initial casting. We then make a master mold off of this rigid cast using several different types of silicone."
The creation of this master mold is not the last step. This is where the true craft comes in, Bloom says, because any missing details must be fashioned by the manufacturer's artisans. "In a skilled sculptor's hands, the true refinement takes place," he says. "Details are created that may or may not have been captured, and a final master is created, from which production molds will be created."
Once all of this work has been done, the life-cast replicas are produced on the assembly line from the final master mold. With the careful addition of pigment and perhaps hair by even more artists, the final product is complete and ready to ship to the store-and, ultimately, to the customer's private pleasure dome.
The Art of Perception
Are they perfect copies? Almost. "They are quite accurate, but people have to realize that it is being cast on the outside of your skin, muscle and fat, which can distort from the actual real thing," Wane says. "It comes out like a slightly different twin sister. "
This said, today's life-cast replicas truly are triumphs of erotic technology, a tribute to the professionalism of the people who cast them and the models who pose for them. "Taking the time to create an exact replica is a very time-consuming process," Bloom says. "It cannot be rushed; it truly is a work of art. Giving every artist, from the mold-room techs to the sculptor, the time they need to do it right is the key. What they create will be available for years and under intense scrutiny. ‘Time' and ‘patience' are the key words."
Remember this the next time you stock life-cast replicas in your store. A lot of people labored long and hard on these products, so that your customers could labor long and hard.
Image of Tawny Roberts courtesy of Doc Johnson.
