Plaster mold stuck to monster clay - How to get it off?

Erik Pettersson

Hi!

I recently made a plaster mold for a face sculpture (going to cast it in latex later). The sculpture is made out of monster clay and sculpted on a plaster lifecast covered in shellac.

But now the plaster is stuck. Like...it is holding on for everything it holds dear.
My regular supplier was out so I had to settle for regular craft plaster. I've used craft plaster before with no problems, but not this brand.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to get it off the sculpt? Preferably with the mold intact, or at least with the sculpt intact.

Thanks!

Kai Rottmann

Hey Erik :-)

I would try to heat up the surface of the mold by using a hairdryer so that the monsterclay becomes soft and maybe the mold will get off easily.

If the sucktion is so great, that the mold cant come off, i would gently drill some 1-2 mm diameter holes in the Mold to break the sucktion.

When drilling holes into the mold, make sure, that you arent press the drill to hard, because you could break out a flake of plaster on the detail- side of the mold.

If the sucktion will not break, you could inject air with some pressure into the holes to give it a start by using an airbrush. 

I hope it will help and i wish good luck ;-)

Greets

Kai

Chris Ellerby

As Kai mentioned, Heat is your best bet.

Just be careful not to heat the mold too quickly, as a fresh stone mold will have a lot of moisture.

You can even warm it up in the oven.

Wear gloves, as hot melted clay can burn you.

The most important thing is to take your time and be patient with it, especially since you are using craft plaster which is not super strong.  

/Chris