In this assignment we are going to create our own finger mold that we can hang on the wall. (I don’t think I’m gonna do that though. It’s scary.) I’m happy we can go through the whole process during the class. It’s always a lot of fun to make things with your classmates!
Jasmine and I worked on this together in class. First, we measured the alginate to water in a 1:4 ratio. We got 37.5g alginate and 150g water and mixed them in a cup with a popsicle stick. After about 3 minutes, I submerged my right forefinger into this thick thing and held this weird and uncomfortable position for 10 minutes (feels like forever!) to wait for the alginate to solidify.
After solidification, I pulled out my finger, mixed 2:1 plaster with water by volume and poured it into the hole where my finger was. To allow my finger to hang on the wall (the requirement of this assignment), I put a screw inside the plaster and waited for it to dry. I didn’t realize that we should not leave the plaster inside the mold overnight. When I came back the next day and pulled them out from the mold to check on my fingers, they were a little wet but it was fine.
I let them dry for a bit and applied 3 times of grey coats on my fingers to make a uniform and saturated color.
I also applied one coat of crystal clear spray to make the fingers shine and smooth.
Honestly, I don’t like these fingers. They look just like my grandma’s fingers with lots of wrinkles and details. Those can’t be mine 🙁
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Cost Analysis:
Materials:
Molding and Casting Powder Kit (500g): $19.99 / 500 * 40 * 2 (two fingers) = ~$3.2
Rust-Oleum Crystal Clear Spray Paint (color and clear coat): $6.98 * 1/10 * 2 = ~$1.4
Popsicle stick, Screws, Plastic cups: $0 —- just collect all these in your daily life, for example cups that hold your beverage when you order from Chipotle
Labor:
Molding and Casting: 0.5 hours
Post-processing: 1 hour
1.5 hours * $15 (Rice minimum wage per hour) = $22.5
TOTAL COST: $3.2 + $1.4 + $22.5 = $27.1
