I'm doing a zombie rampage this Saturday, and as part of that, I want blood, in case any of the zombies want to have that freshly-had-dinner look.
Now, for Deadbacks, I experimented with sugar bloods, including cooking more sugar into corn syrup, to get a thick paste-like blood that would stay put. I also played with guar gum, but mostly just got nasty clots.
Note, using too much guar gum, and adding hot water to it, you get nasty clots. This is sometimes a good thing! Think lumpy gravy.
For this event, I don't want the blood to flow around much; I want a paste. Maybe even a solid.
My blood powder, though, does not dissolve in my silicons; so it won't work as a silicon tint and I'm too lazy to mix up silicon colors this week. And, well, silicon will NOT come out of clothes.
So, it's back to the drawing board.
I noticed a blood gel, or may I say, jello, on the shelves this year, so I decided to play with my (huge) bucket of gelatin, too.
Mmmm, blood gelatin.
Soooo, here are a few recipe tests I've made:
1tsp guar gum in 1 cup water (mixed with 1/2 cold, then add 1/2 hot, then nuke to a boil to cook). A thick fluid that glops rather than flows. Not solid. Has a bit of texture to it, not too smooth.
1/2 tsp guar gum in 1 cup water; almost slimy, a thick fluid. Would make a good... slime? Still a bit of a texture.
1 tsp gelatin in 1 cup water; almost sets, kind of runny/chunky gelatin.
2 tsp gelatin 1 cup water; definitely sets, into a fairly soft gel.
For a solid blood, I could go whole hog and do something like 1/8 cup gelatin in 1 cup water... woohoo!
Instead, I'm going to test a combination tonight -- 1 tsp guar gum + 2 tsp gelatin. I wonder what that will do?
For any of the gelatin-based bloods, you heat it so it flows, apply, and as it cools it sets.
I'm still not sure what texture I actually want tomorrow.
I'll let you know, though!