Tuesday 28 July 2015

A Bit More Mould Making

I am now 4 days on from my fourth chemo treatment, and again, feeling better in the mornings so taking advantage of that to do a bit in my ARTHaven. I do seem to be at my best in the mornings, and then have to rest during the afternoon and evening. I am hoping that like last time, the effects will not last much beyond the first week, enabling me to take full advantage of feeling better before the next treatment.

This morning I made a few more moulds, using the Amazing Mould Putty. I had one or two fails from the past batch of moulds so remade these, and then I did a few more.

The reason one or two of my gearwheel moulds failed was that I pressed them down too far, and wiggled them a bit so they were rather indistinct, and not pressed in at an even depth all around. One or two had blemishes because of inadequate manipulation of the mixed putty, so they had air bubbles or creases.

To make a good mould, I have discovered that if you make a ball shape and flatten it slightly, so that it is still slightly smaller than the object, and then press the object down, it spreads the mould so it is big enough. Press down gently so that the top of the object is level with the surface of the mould and don’t wiggle it. The less manipulation the better. These redone moulds were very much better.

A few weeks ago I ordered some thin metal angel wings from Etsy and decided to try and make some moulds from these. I found the best way to make the moulds was to mix the putty and make it into a ball and then roll it out with my acrylic roller which is really for polymer clay. I laid the thin metal piece onto this thinly rolled out piece, and rolled over the top very gently with the roller, and then placed a flat board over the top with a weight on top, to keep it all flat. After curing, the mould peeled off the bottom of the board with no problem at all, and the metal piece remained nice and flat, making a good impression.

02 Angel Wings and Misc Charms 28-7

The wings are very thin, so the moulds are thin too, and this may present a problem with casting, but I shall do some experiments and see what works best with them.

I also made a few more moulds from some miscellaneous charms while I was at it.

Here is a detailed shot of the angel wing moulds.

03 Detail of Angel Wing Moulds 28-7

The impression is very good in each case. I think the best medium to cast in these moulds will be Friendly Plastic pellets because this stuff ends up quite rigid. Polymer clay at this thickness would probably be too brittle and break. Another advantage of the FP is that I could possibly warm the centre with a hot knife so that I could bend the wings up? Not sure if this would work but it’s worth a try!

I’ll let you know how I get on.

8 comments:

  1. Hi Shoshi. It sounds like the chemo treatments are going well and not affecting you for a long period of time. My mum went through chemo in 1991 and it sounds like there's been so much progress since then.

    The angel wings look really great and you can see the details real vividly.

    You are inspiring me to start writing posts again. I had a total knee replacement in June and that's what I've been focusing on. The pain has finally gotten better although it's not away totally. I am going to physical therapy twice a week. Just getting out of the house has improved my Outlook.

    I hope and Pray that you continue to do well.
    Hugs
    Kay

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  2. Pleased you are approaching chemo positively. I'm sure it makes a difference.

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  3. Gosh Shoshi, you are always doing something interesting! Looked back on the wings and saw the sea horses, and bubbles etc. Thinking of you with this next round of chemo.
    Judy xx

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  4. Very interesting post Shoshi. I think it takes a bit of getting used to when dealing with moulds. I remember the kits I would get when I was a child to make models. They never used to turn out. I think it's a great idea making moulds of the wings. It's a great way of making the most of your purchase.

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  5. I'm so glad you feeling a bit better and doing loads of crafty stuff - your desk is always so interesting, and I really must have a go and the moulds - I think I might have told you I have a little beetle brooch and the putty stuff all ready to go - it's just that I'm lacking the ability to kick my own backside into doing it! The wings you are making are a fab idea and will look gorgeous on your projects. I have both paper clay and silk clay that I am planning on using, but will probably experiment to see which works best. I haven't come across friendly plastic so might have to look into that - I'm at it again - googling stuff after visiting your blog!! I Hope the post-chemo session recovery continues,
    Diana xx

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  6. Glad to hear your chemo is being a bit nicer to you and giving you some craft time. Your moulds are cool! Will have to check back to see your projects! Prayers!

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  7. Hello Shoshi,

    thats a very great idea to use metal stencils to making moulds. Its brilliant. I´ve nerver seen it before anywhere. I dont know a lots of moulds, because i don´t make such Things but smetimes im looking for ín any Facebook Crafting Groups.

    Many Greetings from germany an god bless You.

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  8. Glad to see you're making it into your ArtHaven. It sounds like we use similar techniques to make these moulds. I tend to use paper clay or UTEE and hadn't heard of friendly plastic pellets. It makes me wonder whether wax could work but I think it would possibly break. I wonder if there are any additives you can use to strengthen any of the medium. Hugs x

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