How strong is Latex?

[Gonzo's Hobbit]

Hi guys.
So, I'm working on a bird puppet and am toying with the idea of making the beak out of latex, just to push my skill boundaries a little. But I wanted to know if this was a good idea or not as I'm not sure about the strenght of latex. Does anyone know if it's strong enough to put of with the wear and tear that would coming with being part of the mouth or would it tear?

 

[pashmonster]

Ive used it before to sculp masks, the latex was about 2 or 3 tenths of an inch thick but the latex shrinks about 30% once fully dry (could be more depending where you are) so had to make my mould larger to accomodate this. Is it going to have a structure behind the latex? On its own it wouldnt hold its shape. latex shouldnt tear tho it was quite strong but it depends on the overall thickness.
I would suggest a different material and use a fibreglass beak, they can be sprayed and buffed to look like a real beak and they are really strong. Its easier to work with than latex

 

[Gonzo's Hobbit]

Cool, thanks for the tip.
I don't know a whole lot about fiberglass so I probably won't use it for this particular project. But I had never thought of using it so thanks for bringing it up.

 

[The Shoe Fairy]

Just out of curiousity, what is the best way to paint latex?

 

[Gonzo's Hobbit]

The way I learned was to add coloring to the latex before you mold it.