Mold Making Overview:

A good clean mold is a sculptor's best friend. If you are a sculptor and plan to make money as a sculptor then you need to learn how to create molds. When you have the ability to create molds, you have the ability to create multiple copies of your creations. Once you have your mold you also have the ability (and flexibility) to reproduce your sculptures in many different ways. You can cast your sculpt in plaster, stone, plastic, wax (for bronze copy's), resin's, and many more materials for a huge variety of applications. In this tutorial I'll be molding my little troll sculpt that I created for the Sculpting Tutorial. My troll was sculpted in 3 separate pieces (body, left arm, and right arm) so that they can be molded separately and assembled later. I'll be molding this sculpt in silicone (GI-1000, my favorite molding silicone). One thing that I'd like to stress most of all is- it's very important to create clean neat molds. Sloppy molds will work sometimes, but they will never last.

GI-1000:
There are many mold making rubbers and silicones to choose from but for many years GI-1000 (A Silicones, Inc. product) has remained as the standard for silicone mold making. I worked in the movie industry for a special effects company for 5 years and GI-1000 was the most used molding material. It has great flexibility and tear strength, and also a very low shrinkage rate. GI-1000 is not the cheapest silicone but molds made from it will last you a long time, so in the long run it is the cheaper solution. Anyway, I just thought I'd bring this up because I know how confusing it can be selecting your product when there are so many options out there (No, I do not have stock in the company).

Before You Begin:
Before you start on your mold it is very important to select where your parting line will be. We're making a 2 piece mold here, and we need to decide where the seam for that mold will be. The 2 pieces of the mold should be able to open and close as cleanly as possible and the seam should be as straight and level as possible. Think about how you will be casting materials into the mold and the best orientation for casting into the mold. You need to find the best place for your pour spout and watch for places that might catch air bubbles. Sometimes this will be a no brainer, but other times you will need to be very careful about where you place your parting line. This will become second nature to you with experience, and you will start planning for molds before you even start your sculpture.

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Mold Making

Mold Making