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Author: Tamara_Dozier, Contributing Editor
| I make my molds using a professional grade latex. Latex is great for molds, it captures all the fine details, it's stretchable so you don't have to worry as much about undercuts and it's durable. I can get around 100 castings from my molds before they start to break down. When you use latex make sure you ventilate your work area as this stuff will curl your toes! I'll be painting on the latex in thin layers, up to 16 layers.
Latex ruins brushes so I won't use any of my good brushes for this. I use kids brushes that I can buy in a pack of 24 at a hobby store. After each layer I wash the brush in soapy water. I usually use one brush for awhile, they're good for several sculptures, as long as I clean them well in between layers: |  |
 | The brushes that I use are a bit stiff which is great for getting the latex into all the detail and breaking any small bubbles that may be in the latex. Take your time putting on the first few layers of latex. These are the layers that will put all your details into your final casting and you don't want your mold to have lots of tiny bubbles because you were too impatient.
It takes about 5 minutes to paint on the layer. You then have to let it completely dry before applying the next layer. Depending on the room temperature and humidity it takes anywhere from 1 to 2 hours for each layer to dry. |
| I'm now at latex layer 4 in this picture. I can start painting the latex on a bit thicker at this point since my detail layers are nice and dry and bubble free.
Notice that I am building a "lip" around the base. This will help keep the mold from folding inward when I pour the hydrostone and will also help when I pull the mold off the set hydrostone. |  |
| This is what the latex looks like at layer 14. I'm done with the latex and it has a nice thickness to it. Yuck, poor guy, he looks like he has a really nasty skin condition.
It took about 20 hours to get all the layers of latex painted on and dried. Now I'll let it "cure" for 24 hours before I make the mother mold. |  |
 | Before I can start building the mother mold I have to decide where my parting lines will be. It's really not as hard as it may seem. I try to pick "the path of least resistance" and draw my lines with a marker right on the latex.
The Mother Mold is a hard, outer shell that keeps the latex from stretching while I'm casting the sculpture in hydrostone. |
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