A corpse for a Murder Mystery event. It needed to stand in for a cast member who was to be found murdered and later to be autopsied to reveal certain peculiarities of her death.

I began with a basic static shop mannequin. I dismembered it with a hacksaw and cut the parts down to match the measurements of the actress. I fitted a simple wooden frame inside the plastic shell and installed ball joints at the neck, shoulders. waist and hips that would allow the body to be posed realistically. The knees and elbows were articulated with hinges and had leather straps to prevent them from overextending.

I was supplied with a lifecast of the performer but unfortunately there had been some distortion in the casting process so I didn't feel it could be used. Instead, I sculpted a clay portrait using the lifecast and photos for reference. I also sculpted inner and outer abdominal details to incorporate the necessary wounds. The interior sculpt had most of the organs in place (with specific damage to the liver) with the exception of the intestines.

Fibreglass moulds were made from the clay sculpts and the parts were reproduced in latex. I used dental acrylic teeth and a sculpted tongue to complete the mouth. The eyeballs needed to be removable for the autopsy, so I made them in clear flexible resin, including detals of the muscle and nerve attachments. The removable intestines were made in thin fabric by my wife and stuffed with cotton wool. I then coated them with a latex skin. Once everything was painted, it was assembled and the removable parts augmented with methylcellulose slime to make them more slippery and organic.

Additional photography by Karl Nicholls and Roger Bulcock