For this assignment, I made four different wall hooks of my index and middle fingers. I made a mold in alginate, and then cast the shape with plaster. Each one had its own successes and failures, but overall they improved with each iteration.

The first cast I made in class. It actually turned out a lot better than I expected, though there were some issues. The alginate I mixed was a little too thick, and the top was uneven. Because of this, the plaster poured in and formed a weird shape that broke off when I removed the cast. However, the quality of the cast was actually very good. Even thought the plaster was too watery, I avoided any large air bubbles. I could clearly see my fingerprints, and even a hangnail I had on my index finger. I superglued the fingers back onto the wall mount, and then dropped it on the floor and broke it into 10+ pieces. Oh well. The main lesson of the day was be more careful next time.

The next attempt was easily my best result in terms of detail captured.  I had almost no air bubbles, but once again the alginate had a rough surface. This time it was due to me putting my fingers too far in and creating all these uneven holes. I tried just pouring the plaster over the entire thing, but instead I ended up with another thin plaster layer that snapped off during post processing. It wasn’t enough for super glue to fix, but  the cast turned out so well that I kept it anyways.

An interesting Tidbit – while I was typing this I leaned backwards too far in my chair and fell and broke my laptop (and the chair). Nothing duct tape can’t “”””fix””””.

The next attempt had the same issues. My other fingers created divots in the mold, and when I filled it with plaster it caused this circle of thin plaster. I managed to carve some of this away, and keep the screw in the fingers, giving me my first successful hook! Naturally it broke in my backpack later that day. This time however, super glue did save the day, and I got it looking more or less acceptable.
It’s a little sloppier than the other casts though. The finger detail is fine, but it is really messed up near the end.

My final cast is the best in terms of structural stability. The hole was clean all the way up to my hand, and it ended with a level surface. I poured just the right amount of plaster to get the shape I wanted. The screw is firmly embedded in the cast, and I didn’t have to cut anything away. However, this one had the worst detail out of all of my attempts. You can still get fingerprints, but there are many air bubbled. There are some larger air pockets at the tips of the fingers, and there’s some scoring left from when I cut it out of the mold.

This was made of a different plaster, and the difference was very noticeable. The color is different, but more importantly it got firm really quickly. The other plaster was practically water, but this almost instantly became clay like. This made it that much harder to get air bubbles out. It also took much longer to fully harden. Even after I removed it, it took around 48 hours until it was fully hardened. Before that I could scratch it with my fingernails. I suspect that this type of plaster is more useful for artisans, where they can modify and detail something while the plaster is hardening. Meanwhile the white plaster is more useful for construction, since it goes straight to solid from liquid in two or so hours.

Overall, this project helped a lot with understanding the different factors that can make or break a mold or cast. It’s really easy to do small molds like this, and you can get a stunning amount of detail out of it. I want to use what I learned for this project and the one before it to make some 3d printed eyes. I already printed them, and I’ll sand them down, paint them, and coat them in a clear resin using a mold. Before this I kind of thought mold making and casting was something that required lots of precision and planning. I’ve gotten the impression now that it can be used for rapid prototyping, and you can make many parts faster then you could 3d printing. The biggest downside to this is of course the cost. Plaster is cheap, but alginate and other mold making materials often aren’t. It’s something to keep in mind in the future. Also in the future: I need to TAKE PICTURES. Especially before I drop my piece and break it.