Have you ever had a significant other that could not stay much longer? What about that ex you secretly cry over every night? What about your dog, who one day decided to kick the bucket? Sometimes, you wish you had a fragment left behind – something to relish and fall into a reverie over. Well, look no further, because there is a way to preserve their touch! In this post, you will want to take your loved one’s hand, stick it in a moldy mixture, and successfully create an accurate sculpture of their finger to serve as a reminder of who they once were!
1. Molding
To begin the process of making a cast, we need to make a mold flexible enough to allow the cast to be removed easily when it dries. The mold we are using is made out of a mixture of alginate and water. I begin by mixing 2 ounces of alginate powder, and 2 ounces of water to make 4 ounces of mixture. Then, I mixed the mixture for 4 minutes with a dowel and began pouring it into a beaker. At that moment, I put my finger into the sticky mess and sat there for 10 minutes. The mixture becomes gelatinous and maintains its shape, creating a mold of our finger. After finishing the mold, I moved on to make the plaster.
The mixture consists of alginate and water.
I stuck my finger in an alginate mix to create a mold of my index finger.
2. Casting
After making sure that the alginate was dry enough, I began mixing 2 ounces of Plaster of Paris and one ounce of water to create a paste. After mixing it for 2 minutes (don’t mix too much or the paste will become stiff too quick), I poured the plaster into the mold and inserted an upside-down screw. After letting the mixture dry for 20 minutes, the finger is formed, and ready to be post-processed!
A casted finger drying for a few minutes.
Front view of the finished finger.
Side view of the finished finger.
3. Post-Processing
Before officially post-processing the finger, I made sure to make an identical one. To do this, I repeated the same steps to create the first finger. Once both fingers were done, I began to spray paint the fingers black, and once the paint dried, I clear coated them with a matte clear coating to give them a smooth, dull appearance. After drying, the fingers became solid and are ready to be screed in. I did not paint the bottom of the fingers, as it would have no impact on the use or aesthetic of the fingers (the bottom will be concealed when attached to a wall.)
Setting the fingers to dry off.
Fingers after a coating of matte clear coating.
Bottom of the fingers are not painted well, but these will be concealed when attached to a wall.
4. Evaluation
My fingers turned out to be better than I anticipated. The paint coat is nice, and you can see the details around my finger on the cast. The only issue I came across was since plaster takes a very long time to fully cure, painting it right after creating the molds is not a good idea, as the paint would just be scraped off with a single touch. The solution to this was to let the paint and cast dry thoroughly and without being bothered, Other than a few painting problems, this project went by perfectly.
5. Cost Analysis
Costs are based on buying a full-size product.
- Plaster of Paris 40z.: $6.99 (Staples.com)
- Make A Mold Alginate 4.5 lbs: $32.99 (Blick Art Materials)
- Matte Clear Coat (Rust-Oleum): $6.49 (Home Depot)
- Rustoleum Matte Black Paint + Primer: $6.49 (Home Depot)
- Labor: $15/h (Median hourly pay) for 1 hour: $15.
TOTAL (with tax) = $73.57
