Adventures in Casting: Dolly

Earlier in the week I mentioned I was working on a little rag doll figure. Well, here she is!

I’m naming her Dolly. I know, I know, It’s suuuuuch an original name! Ha. I’m happy with her as my first try. She isn’t perfectly flat or square, so she’ll give me a little bit of a challenge when it comes to making a mold and casting her.

I always have extra plastic casting supplies lying around, just in case, so I was ready to make a mold right away. I’ve been casting for about nine years now. You would think I’d be perfect at it by now, but I only ever made molds of items with flat backs. I tried my hand at a two part molds years ago, but I got super frustrated and gave up pretty quickly.

This time around I researched A LOT! I watched loads of YouTube videos and I even passed on a teeny bit of my knowledge to someone else to try it out first. I felt ready after it all.

The mold did NOT come out perfect, at all!! The first half did, but then I made the horrible decision to do the second half at night when I wasn’t feeling 100%. I think I didn’t spray enough mold release, or it had gone bad, I don’t know for sure. When I went to take the two halves apart I found that they had melded together as one large silicone chunk with my figure inside!!!! I cut Dolly out as gentle as I could, but along the way I did accidentally break her head off. No worries though, I glued it back and it’s drying now!!

The mold wasn’t the way it was supposed to be, BUT it was in working condition. Cutting a slit in the silicone to get figures out is actually another way of making 2 part molds.

So I tried to cast an example to see if it worked.

I love watching the plastic go from clear to white (or whatever color I used).

The first piece I cast had a few bubbles in the hair flip area, but the second one came out pretty much perfect!! Which seriously made my day. I thought I had put so much work into something and screwed it up, but I didn’t.

I’ve cast about seven already today and have enough plastic for a few more. I made mostly white ones since I’m planning on painting them all, but I did make two neon pink ones too! One for me and one for CT (who also stole the first white, bubbly, one too). I’m now researching the best primer and paint to use. Once I’m finished I’ll share the absolute finished pieces!

I’m so excited to be working on these. This whole process has been on my to do list for years! Oh and I’m nowhere near done working on it all, I want to perfect it. I also want to try some other ideas out. I really can’t wait.

 

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5 thoughts on “Adventures in Casting: Dolly

  1. I would also love to know what kind of plastic and such you use. I would love to try this, but know NOTHING about making a cast/mold/ANYTHING!

    … I would also love to hear what kind of paint and primer and such is good to use. I’ve had a Munny that’s needed painting for ages, but I’m too afraid to paint it with something that’s just going to chip off!!!

    Heather

    • Heather,
      thanks the plastic is a urethane plastic and im not sure about the paint or primer yet, I used mold release on my mold so I’ve heard i’m going to have some issues painting these. I’m going to try a bunch of different things.
      As for a Munny, I’ve never painted a vinyl figure before, but I think KidRobot.com has info about how to do it!!
      Sorry I couldn’t be more help on that topic. :)

  2. Pingback: Adventures in Casting: Rings | an Art School Dropout's life

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