Post #745331 by elika-tiki on Sun, Jun 21, 2015 5:19 PM

Hey there, long time no tiki, I know... i've been busy doing other hobbies, like getting 10 gallons of homebrew into kegs:

But I digress... finally completed a sculpt of the mascot of my Alma Mater: behold, Hokie-tiki!

so I mount it into the rig and I decide I want to try a multi-part mold like Wendy just did on her thread, so I build a base out of an old sour cream container:

I quickly discover that these containers are too flimsy to rely on, and I replace it with an old paint container I had laying around.

The Hokie-tiki snug in his box:

I start by weighing out the proper ratio of plaster to water - i'm not experienced enough to do it by eye/touch yet. the proper ratio according to the manufacturer is 7 parts water to 10 parts gypsum.

The first layer, just up to cover his tail:

After the second pour and about to pour the third layer to cover. I use Murphy's oil soap instead of actual mold soap - it seems to work fine, when I remember to use it (more on that below).

The behemoth, on its side so I can get to the last part. this stuff is heavy, especially with all that wood attached to it.

The bottom finally cleared out of the way. After sweating in the 95-degree garage for the last 3 hours I'm so excited to be at this point, that i go right to pouring the last part without remembering to brush on the soap like i've done everywhere else...

and I pay for it. the bottom wouldn't detach from the top section, and I now have a 6-piece mold (one of the side pieces also broke in half).

you can't really tell from that last picture but the bottom is firmly attached to the piece on the right, which split right in two after trying to un-stick it from the top part. I quit trying after that, i might still be able to use this mold. we'll find out next week I guess!
oh and here's my Moai mug I cast, all dry and ready to be bisque fired:

it's been a long hot day. Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there.
thanks for watching and GO HOKIES!
eliki-tiki