Hi Antony here!
Have you ever fancied making your own mould?
In this post I explore a use for Coolmorph plastic beads to make my own.
The moulds that you make won't be that flexible, but the results you can get
using this product are still pretty amazing!
Step 1 I was given a sample of Coolmorph some time ago, and it's been sitting
there ever since. But then I had a brain wave... dangerous I know!
Anyway I read the instructions and got cracking on my idea.
I boiled a kettle and using a glass Pyrex jug I poured the boiling water in, followed
by the Coolmorph beads. When you first put them in the beads are white in colour.
As soon as the beads turn clear within the water, you can start moulding with them.
I used a metal craft spatula to remove the melted beads, but you could use a spoon.
Step 2 The next bit is really important. I used a non stick sheet on my worksurface
and sprayed a fine mist of water over it. With wet hand I then took the melted beads and
squeezed them all together into a ball. I then misted a rolling pin with water
and rolled the melted beads in to a sheet, about 2-3mm thick.
Step 3 I took an ornament that I got when I visited Cyprus about 20 years ago.
I sprayed that with some water too, just to make sure the melted material wouldn't
stick to that either. I then laid it on a foam mat so that it wouldn't move.
Make sure that the ornament you want to use is non pourous. If you're unsure
try using the Coolmorph on the underside of it. If the Coolmorph does stick, at
least you won't see it.
I then placed the still malleable melted sheet over the ornament and pressed it into
all the detail of the head. When doing this make sure that you fingers are wet,
otherwise the Coolmorph will stick to your fingers (however it will come off
once it's cooled down)
I cast just one side of the head, because as I mentioned earlier, the mould that
you make won't be that flexible. If I'd have covered the entire head I wouldn't
have been able to remove the plastic mould once it had hardened.
Workable time for the melted sheets depends on how much it has cooled. If you
feel that the plastic sheet is hardening too quickly, simply use a heat tool to slightly
melt it again.
Step 4 Wait until the Coolmorph has cooled down, which should take less than
15 minutes. You could also put it under a cold tap too.
Then I carefully removed the formed plastic. I now had a mould!
Step 5 I dusted out my mould with cornflower and then using FMM Bright & Light
paper air drying clay, I pushed it into the mould. As you can see from the photo, I
made sure that some of the clay hung over the edge of the mould.
This over hanging clay, gave me somewhere to hold on to and helped me
remove the clay from the mould. If you wish, you could also leave the clay
in the mould to set. This could take a while, depending how thick the clay is.
Step 6 With the clay cast out of the mould, I then cleaned up some
of the edges and reshaped the back of the head, until I was happy with
the shape. If there are any other marks in the clay, now is the time to
smooth them out while the clay is still wet. I used a damp paint brush
to gently go over a few areas on the face and used my fingers to tuck
the clay in round the outer edges to neaten it up too.
Step 7 Leave your clay piece to dry before painting it and using it
within your project.
Coolmorph could also me used to cast a texture on a flat surface, which
you could then use like a stamp and press that texture into clay.
I'm sure you'll have fun creating moulds... just remember the limitation
I've mentioned and you should be alright.
Oh... almost forgot to mention this, but if you know that you're never
going to use the mould that you've made with the Coolmorph, you can
melt it down and use it again... How cool is that!
Hope you found this post helpful.
Until next time, Happy Crafting and please stay safe!
Antony
