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The Casting Process
The alginate captures high level of detail but the unfortunate thing about using alginate for mould making is the fact that it is a one-off mould, if left to dry out too much before casting, it looses moisture and distorts the shape, it tears as soon as you demould the cast and it can be very costly to use if you do not buy in bulk. Also the alginate dries out overnight if not covered and kept moist, so if you do not cast immediately it is very important to cover the moulds properly with cling film, in order to prolong it.
With the mould making process being so time consuming, the models' discomfort is the first priority but you also need to keep in mind the alginate drying out, you have to decide whether you will cast immediately or continue the next day. The whole process to mould a full body took up to 5 hours, even with two extra pairs of hands helping, it still took a long time.
I decided to cast the first thin layer of plaster in order to keep the shape of the alginate, so whilst doing that, the rest of my helpers were assisting the model to get cleaned up and get comfortable.
In order to keep the cast hollow for a more light-weight effect, I had to leave the plaster a little bit longer to become thicker, in order to be able to smear it into the hollow cavities of the arms, chest and legs, otherwise the consistency is too runny and will just pool in one area.
Check out the slideshow below:
The moulds were still very fragile at this stage, so was important to take extra care with shifting. Unfortunately I have never been informed to re-inforce the cast with hessian as well, so I casted out of pure plaster which made it more fragile and prone to breakage.
The arm of the front chest piece broke off in the demoulding process, but nothing that could not be fixed with hessian and plaster like bandage on the inside of the cast. however this meant that the piece had to be submerged in water to absorb water into the plaster, to allow you to add wet plaster to the existing piece, which added more time to the making process.
The breakage did however add extra flaws to the piece but one that I was pleased about as it added that sense of fragility of human life.
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