plaster piece mold 10

Repeat the steps:
Make a mold wall with no undercuts.
Use mold release.
Mix plaster. (See instructions)
Use the paint brush until plaster starts to thicken then use a plaster spatula.
Clean up plaster with a knife or the spatula.
Just before the plaster sets hard, use a wet paint brush to tidy up.
Repeat the steps…

Work fast. It takes 10-15 minutes from plaster mixing to the point where it hardens. I try to mix one batch for each small piece, but when the piece is larger, it takes multiple batches.

plaster piece mold 9

gently remove the mold walls

gently remove mold walls

Once the mold wall is off, look at your sculpture to see if any clean up is necessary.

plaster piece mold 8

Wait for a couple of minutes so that the plaster gets past the crumbly stage an cut away the excess.

The plaster will end up being about 1 1/2″ thick.

1 1/2″ thick measured by using the plasticine mold walls.

Wait at least one hour before removing the mold walls.

plaster piece mold 7

Start to paint the plaster on right away while it’s still thin.

The plaster will thicken very quickly.

Continue painting as the plaster thickens. Paint out past the 1″ or 1 1/2″ thick so that it can be cut back a little later.

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I wipe off the excess onto a paper towel.

Brush a very thin layer of mold release onto any surface where the plaster will touch. If there are brush strokes, they’ll show in your final piece. I use my hands to get rid of brush strokes and any excess mold release.