Suggestions on How to Mold without Losing his Fingers?

Monika Salter

Hello experts!
I'm working on my first sculpt to mold project and I created this guy while watching Joru Schell's How to sculpt creature maquettes courses. He's pretty simple in shape and still a work-in-progress, but I know he'll be destroyed once I start the mold making process. Any advise on how to make sure the fingers mold successfully? Would a 1-part mold be a better option than a 2-part? I was planning on using silicone for the molding, but is there a better option? I'll take any thoughts, advise, suggestions or critiques you're willing to give!

TJ makes stuff

Hi, what do you want the final cast to be made of? A lot of maquette makers will cast using a hard plastic material and they will remove the arms, tails ect….and cast them separately. And then   attach them after casting and use a bit of putty model makers use to hide the seam. Another helpful thing after you remove the arms is to add a metal or wood dowel and on the other cut off area add a hole that the dowel will plug into after casting. There is a handy video that shows all of this on Stan Winston’s videos that show how to cast a maquette ( the video is casting a cool friendly yetti character) I hope this helps you.

Monika Salter

Hello TJ! Thank you for responding. I DID watch the video set with Aaron Globerman, which was excellent. I wasn't sure if I was ready to cut him up on my first try, but it is probably my best option. Do you have suggestions for hard plastic materials? I've seen silicone, fiberglass and plaster, but don't have any experience with urathanes or resins. Brand/material suggestion would be great!

TJ makes stuff

Hi Monika, the video may have a material list. For casting a urethane resin is pretty standard urethane is short for polyurethane…is a two part mix that becomes a hard plastic fairly quickly ( the cure time varies for different products sometimes doing a super small test with a super small amount will give you a idea for how quickly you need to pour the material into a mold.) Smooth on is a good brand …they have a product Smooth Cast 300 that would do the job, it will be a solid white when fully cured that can be painted. It can be confusing when looking through product lists, there are many types of urethane plastics within one companies brand…the differences, are that the resins come in a variety of flexible to very hard,  they have resins that are more durable vs brittle and resins clear vs a solid color. smooth on website will have a phone number that they can help you also. The big tip for using the two part resin is to make sure your mold is free of any water. Any water will cause the resin to foam and ruin your sculpture. I hope this helps!