How to Make Custom Fangs for Cosplay
Back in 2019 made myself a pair of custom fangs for my SQUIP cosplay and have gotten a ton of questions on how I made them, so I figured I'd make a little tutorial!
What You'll Need:
Thermoplastic Pellets
(I got mine from Amazon for around $12 and the brand name was "Friendly Plastic." I barely used any of the pellets, so you can make multiple pairs of fangs with one package!)
Paper Towel
Heat Gun
OR a pot
(You can also boil water for pellets If you don't have a heat gun.)
Ok, so let's get started:
Step One: Section out the Pellets
The first step is making sure you have enough plastic pellets sectioned out for each fang. I used about 10-15 which was perfect for my tooth size. You may need to adjust depending on your teeth, but it's best to use too many pellets as opposed to too few. You can always cut off the excess while shaping the fangs.
Step Two: Dry off Teeth
This step is super important!! When shaping the fangs, the plastic will slip off of wet teeth. I used a paper towel and dried off the front and back of the tooth I was going to mould the fang onto. Once the tooth is as dry as you can get it, make sure you keep your mouth open and your lip out of the way to ensure the tooth stays dry.
It's annoying and it feels weird, but it's essential to the process.
Step Three: Heat the Pellets
In this step, I'll go over two methods on how to heat up the pellets: with a heat gun and in boiling water.
With a Heat Gun:
Firstly, find a bowl that won't melt as you heat the pellets up. The pellets are round, so if they aren't in a bowl they'll just roll everywhere (Learned this the hard way) Once you've got the pellets in the bowl, point your heat gun at them and start to heat them up! You will start to notice the pellets turn clear, this is what you want.
Once the pellets are almost clear, you can start to squish them together into one ball, and heat them up until completely clear. Just be careful as they can get very hot, and nobody likes getting burned!
With Boiling Water:
Using boiling water is similar to using a heat gun, just a bit more time-consuming. The first step, obviously, is to boil some water. Once the water has hit a boiling point, turn the burner off and pour in your pellets. Use a spoon or other utensil to gather the pellets together as they turn clear. Once pellets are gathered, use the spoon to scoop them out of the water.
My only problem with this method is that the plastic will be wet, which sort of defeats the purpose of drying off your tooth in step two, but it works in a pinch if you don't have a heat gun
Step Four: Shaping the Fangs
Once your ball of plastic is heated up, you're ready to go! I first mould my plastic into a cone shape and then press the bottom of the cone onto my tooth. Once the fang is on my tooth, I use my fingers to push the plastic up so it covers the entire front of my tooth. I then repeat this step on the back of my tooth, ensuring it fits snugly.
Once the fit of the fang is right, I use the back of my nail to shape the sides and front of the fang into a point. I repeat this process until the fang is the shape I want. Make sure you're checking your fang from all sides to make sure you don't have any weird lumps that can only be seen from certain angles.
When the fang is the shape you want, close your mouth and make sure the back of the fang doesn't interfere with your bottom teeth. I have an overbite, so my method is to bite down, which makes an imprint on the back of the fang so my lower teeth fit when I close my mouth.
Keep this fang in your mouth until the plastic turns completely white. This usually takes anywhere from 2-5 minutes. Keep checking on the fang to make sure that it has kept shape as it cools.
Once the plastic has cooled, remove the fang from your mouth. A good fang should be able to stay in your mouth without any glue, but still be easy to take out.
Step Five: Repeat!
Now repeat the process. Don't be discouraged if your first fang turns out wrong, It took me a good 4 tries before I got my first fang, but the second fang came easily. When making your second fang, I'd recommend putting your first fang in to use as a reference so that you have an idea of the size and shape to ensure they match.
Ta-da! You now have a pair of custom-fit, one-of-a-kind fangs for under $20. I've only made myself one pair of fangs so far, but I've already used them for four different cosplays! They're extremely versatile and can add that little extra "oomph" to any costume!
