There are commercial molds available for making faces for dolls
or jewelry, but those designs were created by someone else, and while you can
create items for your own use without violating copyright, and sometimes for
sale, the design is still one that is easily recognizable as one that originated
elsewhere. While there is nothing wrong with that, I far prefer to use my own
sculpted faces, and I encourage others to expand their creative range as well.
When you start with your own work, YOU own the copyright,
and molds are a great way to easily make copies.
Have you ever wondered how to create and use a mold
made from an original hand modeled polymer clay face?
There are many ways to do it. Polymer clays, particularly the softer ones
like SculpeyIII and Sculpey Bake and Bend, can be used to form hard molds
using the polymer clay original. To keep the baked original face from sticking to the softer raw mold
clay, a release agent like powder, cornstarch or water mist can be used.
The original piece is lightly coated with the release
agent and the soft clay is pressed around the original.
This can be baked in place and removed--IF the piece has been completely
covered with the release agent. Kato
Polyclay also has a product called Repel-Gel that can be used to keep
raw clay pieces from sticking together while curing in the oven.
The original piece can also be carefully removed prior to baking, but
sometimes this results in the mold being deformed in the process. Molds for use in glass slumping can be made using polymer clay originals
with a special plaster mix sold in glass supply sources such as D&L Stained Glass in Boulder CO. Molds
can also be used with ceramic clay. Silicone molds are particularly useful for
this, and benefit from a light brushing of a release agent; my preference is a
product called Badger Balm that is made for skin care and is olive oil based
with beeswax to thicken it. I find it only takes a little bit, and after work is
done I use it to moisturize my hands too!
My favorite mold making
materials are two part silicone compounds, also designated RTV (room temperature
vulcanizing) silicones . They do not need a release agent when creating
OR when using the mold. They are sturdy and extremely flexible, unlike clay
or plaster molds. The can be used with items like doll faces that have undercuts,
and still release the item or the pulls from the mold.
One part of the silicone material set is a white compound and the other
is colored. There are many brands on the market, and these are all differentiated
by the color-- Miracle Mold is
hot pink, another brand is blue, and one is purple, and Amazing Mold Putty
is yellow.
Some, like Miracle Mold are able to take very high heat, up to 600 degrees
F. Amazing Mold Putty can
be heated to 395 degrees F and is also rated at Food Grade, which means
you can use it to make molds for gelatin, chocolates or other candies and
it can also be baked as with cakes or cookie doughs. For more information
about the kinds of RTV silicones and their uses, click here.
All can be used for making shaped soaps, or for creating items with polymer
clay. They are also extremely useful for making items using PMC (Precious
Metal Clay) or Metal Art Clays. Amazing Mold Putty is the product used throughout
this tutorial. (To see more about molds made with Miracle Mold and with
SuperElasticlay, click here.)
Amazing Mold Putty comes in a box as shown above
left and the kit contains 2/3 pound total of the two parts.
One full kit was used up completely in making the molds shown here. The
2 1/2 inch face in this tutorial was cast twice so that I could have one
to use and one to send to the manufacturers as part of a promotional display
showing how it can be used.
I also cast the front of a commercial fashion doll but will use that
to create scale model jewelry displays, NOT replicas of the doll herself.
That would be a violation of the doll maker's copyright.
Pulls from that mold will be purposely distorted and changed, but will at
least begin at the right size!
In addition to these, casts were also made of a smaller face originally
modeled using polymer clay to create a Japanese
doll. Although the face had already been painted using acrylics, the
mold making compound does not remove or otherwise damage the paint. Several
of these molds are quite large; the same amount of molding compound used
to make smaller button type molds would result in quite a few more molds.
A hand formed polymer clay rose earring was also
cast, and three texture plates were created using flattened balls of the
silicone modeling material pressed into two pieces of lace and a straw basket.
The vintage lace tore slightly when peeling it away from the hardened
putty, but this is because it was old and fragile; contemporary fabrics
can withstand the process easily.
In this tutorial, we will start with modeling an original polymer clay
face.
Click here to see the step-by-step
process of hand forming the face.
Click here to skip ahead
to how to form the mold.
Click here to see how the
pulls from the mold are decorated to create pins or a doll!
