14. Molding and casting

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For this week I tested out several materials:

Some sticks, hot glue gun, wood box, tape, cardboard box, silicone rubber in different presentations, catalyst, white plaster, mixing containers, mixing sticks, plasti loka, epoxic glue and acrilic.

Experiment 1 & 2

I crafted two detailed objects to see how much of the details could the silicone replicate, and fixed them to a wooden box to create the molds:

I aso prepared the box so there were no leaks and added some vaseline to help with demolding:

I measured and mixed the right amount of silicone and catalyst needed for my molds:

With my mix ready, I poured it in thin layers over the box to prevent bubbles. I also tried vibrating the box for any remaining bubble to pop up in the surface.

I had to be careful when removing the molds because they got into some small cracks. This is how they came out:

After the molds were dry, I mixed white plaster to get the right texture and fill the molds with it:

Unfortunately, after a little while, the plaster started to thiken and it became more difficult to distribute it equally along the mold:

*I also shaked the mold to get rid of the bubbles.

Then I let the mix dry through the night and took the final pieces out - failing in the process because they broke :,(

Experiment 3

For this experiment I used some left overs of the silicone, catalyst and plaster to recreate a little duck I had around. This one turned out great:

Experiment 4

After some feedback on my previous experiments I noticed I had to make a mold and recreate something I digitaly fabricated so I went to my lab and did some laser cutted tags of acrilic so I could replicate them in a more flexible and less fragile material (they will ideally be used in my climbing gym):