For this project, we were tasked with making a mold of our fingers using alginate and then casting with plaster. We did this during class, but I ended up breaking my plaster fingers while removing them from the mold.

I redid it, using a 50g alginate/200g water for the mold, and then trying out an ‘island’ technique I learned from a friend taking a sculpture class for the plaster. I bent my fingers too much because the plaster couldn’t reach the tips of my fingers, leaving divots where finger should be. Additionally, I tried to mold two rings along with my fingers, but I found that the rings just ripped up the mold as I removed them, so the effect that I wanted wasn’t reflected:

I redid it, again, trying not to bend my fingers too much. One out of the two still had a divot, but the other turned out nice. Additionally, the screws were also straighter:

Cost Estimate:

Alginate: $7 (Blick)

Plaster: <$8 (Michaels)

Screws (x2): negligible

Labor ($10/hr, 1.5hr): $15

Reflection:

Because of timing, I wasn’t able to retry for a fourth time to completely get rid of the divot, and to also post-process with a clear coat. If I were to improve my plaster fingers, I would address those aspects.