Sunday, June 16, 2013

Shrunken Heads (plaster/paper)

I decided to knock out some duplicates of an old shrunken head sculpt I made many years ago. The mold is done in dragon skin with a plaster outer shell. This particular batch is Plaster of Paris with some very fine paper pulp thrown into the mix. The advantage I have found to this is the final product can be demoulded very quickly ( 10-15 minutes) but dries much lighter in weight than a straight plaster cast. (Complete drying time takes a while..even days....be patient or oven dry on a low heat if you can't wait that long) Just follow the directions for the Plaster of Paris mixture, adding a small amount of very fine paper pulp to the dry mix BEFORE adding any water. Mix the dry ingredients until the paper pulp is fairly dispersed and smooth, then add water, mix well, and pour.  Vibrate the workbench around the wet pour to release any air bubbles. Final pieces can be sealed and painted, used as the base for a new piece, or displayed as-is.

3 comments:

  1. These are wonderful. Are you offering them from your etsy shop? I'd like one to go with my Randotti skulls!

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  2. You should post a how-to for these guys over on HauntForum:) I love their faces!

    Bonnie (aka RoxyBlue)

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