Plaster Casting - Multi Part Molds

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Introduction: Plaster Casting - Multi Part Molds

By HAR.MS
About: I'm M@. If you know Prototype This, TechShop, The Best of Instructables, Show Me How, or AVPII: Requiem, you've seen some of my work and the cool stuff I've been involved in. I build and design and make and th…
This slide show is going to take you through the process of duplicating a sculpture using a multi part plaster mold. In this case, it was a clay cow getting duplicated in a soft foam urethane. The materials needed include:

  • Plaster
  • Plaster bandages, fiberglass, hemp, burlap, or horsehair
  • Disposable gloves
  • A mixing bucket
  • Trash bags to line the bucket for mixing up plaster
  • Aluminum cans
  • Scissors
  • Duct tape
  • A screwdriver
  • Shellac
  • Chip brushes
  • Pam, mold soap, mold release, floor polish wax, Murphy's oil soap, or liquid vaseline to use as a mold release

This sculpture was made by Liz, another RISD student. This project was made possible due to the herculean efforts of Edmund Earle (kind of), Damian VanCamp, Lauren Kaufmann, and the brave RISD janitorial staff.

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    17 Comments

    0
    coweja
    coweja

    6 years ago

    I see this video or instructable is from 2007, but I have been looking for DIY curved pieces into a mold, but this is actually the first one I found. This video failed to show the final product, maybe because there was none but failed to say so too. This was done by a RISD student? I hope the student graduated, with honors. I miss the beautiful Rhode Island. Videos like these are inconclusive and shouldn't be published. thank you

    0
    h3llo41
    h3llo41

    14 years ago on Introduction

    i made a mold with light plaster (i didnt know what to buy), and it break when i try to take it out, i might have bout the wrong one. is light plaster the same plaster as used in here?

    0
    zoe-australia
    zoe-australia

    14 years ago on Introduction

    Hi, cow looks great! next time try embedding some hessian(old jute bagging) or shadecloth , or cut up pieces of flyscreen into the plaster and it helps to strengthen the plaster mold. If you cut strips of old hessian/shadecloth/fibreglass flyscreen, and dip it into the plaster then drape it across the mold sections it helps. For curved shapes, using a triangle shaped piece of mesh fabric works best as it will wrap around a curved shape better. Love the idea of using aluminium cans for shims, great way of avoiding thick shims distorting the final product by making thick ridges on the joints, that have to be sanded down. If you keep your shellac mix in a wide mouth coffee jar with a screw top plastic lid then any leftovers can be kept for future projects. Just make sure the thread of the lid and jar are wiped clean before closing otherwise it will stick so hard you will be cursing when you next try to open the jar. Should this happen use hot water on the lid to soften it and then get a good grip on the lid and strain yourself to open it. This is when a srong handed man is an essential in the workshop! LOL.

    0
    Big Bubba
    Big Bubba

    15 years ago on Introduction

    Great! I love cows. Me and my dad are obsessed with them and always saying "Moo!". I going to make him one of these!

    0
    Patrik
    Patrik

    15 years ago on Introduction

    There's some seriously missing steps here...

    For starters, how the heck do you get your plaster mold off your clay original, especially the udder part, which seems to stick out in all directions??

    0
    Patrik
    Patrik

    Reply 15 years ago on Introduction

    I'd hate to see what would have happened if I had said "teats"...

    0
    bofthem
    bofthem

    Reply 15 years ago on Introduction

    Since the final casting was in soft foam, undercuts weren't a giant concern in this model. I just destroyed the clay model upon demolding. It just fell apart. It's clay, not depleted uranium. It took some cleaning, but every piece of clay came out of the mold.

    0
    Patrik
    Patrik

    Reply 15 years ago on Introduction

    That's what I assumed, but it would ave been nice to show some pictures of that part as well - or at least *mention* that's what you did.

    I can just imagine someone trying to follow your instructions using a piece that they cannot or do not want to destroy...

    0
    trooperrick
    trooperrick

    15 years ago on Introduction

    I like it. But if you could, for a suggestion, to put up an instructable of how you cast something with the mold.