MRBANANA101
New Member
TLDR: Seeking advice on a good method of casting clay in a large two piece plaster mold (about 4 - 5 ft tall) of a humanoid figure so that I can resculpt the clay
Hi all - I have a large plastic figure (about 4.5 feet tall) that I need to make a two part mold of and cast in clay so that I can do a bit of touchup work with the clay positive (before making a mold of that and casting in a more permanent material). I'm just about set on the idea of making a plaster mold of the original plastic figure (it's totally 100% fine if the original plastic figure gets destroyed in the process), but I'm at a bit of a loss of going from plaster mold to clay positive at such a large scale.
I intend on melting down either Chavant NSP or Monster Clay and brushing it into the two halves of the mold. Once each clay half is of a good thickness, I think I might press the two halves together? (still working this out...). The problem is, how can I remove the clay casts from the plaster mold without damaging the clay cast? (since usually if you do the reverse and make a plaster mold of a clay head for example, the clay doesn't pull out in one piece - you have to dig out big globs of the clay when you're trying to clean up the plaster mold... say I want to remove the clay one solid piece even if the plaster mold gets destroyed). I don't mind destroying the plaster mold in the process, just as long as I end up with a pretty good clay cast.
Also, since the figure is so large, I fear the clay cast won't be able to support itself and might cave in on itself. I'm not sure how I'd go about implementing an armature in a clay cast, or how tricky it would be, or if it's even necessary if I build up the thickness of the clay wall in the plaster mold to a good amount.
Any help would be greatly appreciated! I'll be doing experiments but I'm seeking some advice so I can start on a good foot. (also, I'm open to ANY ideas where this process might be a bad idea). Thanks!
side note: I could make a silicone mold of the original plastic figure and cast the clay in that, but that'd be INCREDIBLY expensive for a one-use throw away mold
Hi all - I have a large plastic figure (about 4.5 feet tall) that I need to make a two part mold of and cast in clay so that I can do a bit of touchup work with the clay positive (before making a mold of that and casting in a more permanent material). I'm just about set on the idea of making a plaster mold of the original plastic figure (it's totally 100% fine if the original plastic figure gets destroyed in the process), but I'm at a bit of a loss of going from plaster mold to clay positive at such a large scale.
I intend on melting down either Chavant NSP or Monster Clay and brushing it into the two halves of the mold. Once each clay half is of a good thickness, I think I might press the two halves together? (still working this out...). The problem is, how can I remove the clay casts from the plaster mold without damaging the clay cast? (since usually if you do the reverse and make a plaster mold of a clay head for example, the clay doesn't pull out in one piece - you have to dig out big globs of the clay when you're trying to clean up the plaster mold... say I want to remove the clay one solid piece even if the plaster mold gets destroyed). I don't mind destroying the plaster mold in the process, just as long as I end up with a pretty good clay cast.
Also, since the figure is so large, I fear the clay cast won't be able to support itself and might cave in on itself. I'm not sure how I'd go about implementing an armature in a clay cast, or how tricky it would be, or if it's even necessary if I build up the thickness of the clay wall in the plaster mold to a good amount.
Any help would be greatly appreciated! I'll be doing experiments but I'm seeking some advice so I can start on a good foot. (also, I'm open to ANY ideas where this process might be a bad idea). Thanks!
side note: I could make a silicone mold of the original plastic figure and cast the clay in that, but that'd be INCREDIBLY expensive for a one-use throw away mold
