Mold making question!!!!!

[Camara]

Hi all!!!

I have this (not finished)



And I want to make a silicone mold of it. How can I do it without having to cut it into pieces????Is it possible???All video tutorials on youtube show molds for simple figures,so I have no reference!

[Darkwulf's Talon]

Here's a tutorial on making a 2 part mold for a complex model (horse) which is a very similar stance to yours. http://www.mold-making.com/index.htm

You should be able to get away with this one as there are not many undercuts when it is laid like that. If however you feel you need more than 2 parts to your mold it is just a simple case of covering more of your figure in the initial stage.

You would then be left with a small piece of silicone once set, remove only 1/2 remaining clay and use mold release agent on both the new silicone section and clay. Then poor some more silicone to get a 2nd piece of mold. Once set remove more clay etc etc.

I hope I've explained that okay?

[Camara]

THANK YOU!!! I´ll do it as shown in that tutorial!

[Jiangzu]

That link was extremely useful!!

[Mah ' Crub]

Great link ! It is spot on! I have made hundreds of silicon molds pretty much this way. I make Marionettes, and I make a mold for the HEAD, ONE FOR EACH HAND,{ Left and right} and each FOOT,{ left and right }, so I have five molds for each puppet! { or you can gang mold, multiple pours/ pieces in one mold } Sometimes you can get away with a straight pour{silicon}, just one big block! But then you have to be very careful to cut into the mold at just the right point so you can pull gently on the two sides to pull out the plug. { the piece you have molded, inside the silicon}. You do this with an exacto knife , and you will feel kinda like a surgeon { This works great with the puppets head, as it it mostly roundish, with few undercuts. Its really quite intuitive and great fun!!! You can make a mold of almost anything! And every time you do it , you will learn more and more about it. The beauty of a mold is that you can make many, many pieces from it until the mold erodes from the heat of pouring.{ The two part plastics, when mixed together and poured into the mold get very, very hot!!! { BE CAREFUL, IT WILL BURN YOU BADLY } This over time will destroy the small details in the mold. But you have to pull a lot of pieces before that will happen}
I made the molds so I could sell the same puppet over and over again! Just make new bodies and attach the molded head, hands and feet! Voila! Same old friend ! over and over! Good Luck!!! I would be glad to help with any questions! Please feel free to ask, as there are no dumb questions!!!

[Stew9]

Thanks for that link, that was really helpful.

Something I could never get my head round though is how to cast something if it's made of a softer material such as plasteline. Obviously the detail would be lost if you used a similar technique so I can only assume you stand the model upright and create the mold line by cutting into the silicon after. Similar to how Mah ' Crub casts his puppets by the sounds of it.

What do you guys reckon?