This week we learned about molding and casting! I molded my 3D modeled head from week 5 and a small tire in order to create cool ice sculptures.
I followed this tutorial and collected Sorta-Clear 37 (Parts A and B), stir stick, vinyl gloves, safety glasses, pattern to mold, water as a casting medium (can also use chocolate, butter, jell-o, wax, plaster, bizmuth-tin, etc.), plastic cups, chopsticks, and scissors.
I decided to cast my 3D modeled head and a tire and poured about 3 ounces total (1.5 for parts A and B) in each cup, mixing part B first then pouring part A.
Both objects did not float or sink, so I played around with the objects to place them in a way that would make it easier to remove them later. The tire was easy to place into the mixture, but I wasn’t sure which orientation to place the head at first (face down, face up or sideways). I ended up placing the head sideways to be able to create a mold of the entire shape, but I didn’t submerge it entirely so that it would be easier to remove once the mold cured.
I placed the mold by the window and allowed it to cure for about a day.
The next day, it was a little difficult to remove both of the objects. For the tire, I used a chopstick to poke around the tire and slowly pull it out until I was able to poke at it enough to be able to remove it.
For the head, I tried poking around but wasn’t as successful particularly because the part of the head that wasn’t submerged was still covered with silicone. I ended up using scissors to cut along the side of the head and slowly remove the 3D model from the mold.
I noticed that there was some sticky residue from the mold left on the tire but not on the 3D printed head. I wasn't sure why one object had residue and one didn't, or how to best remove the residue from the tire, but if I were to do this again I would like to avoid having the residue on the tire next time. I also saw that there were a lot of air bubbles in the cured molds. I tried to mix well and pour slowly and consistently to avoid these air bubbles, but in the future I should look up more methods on how to avoid getting as many bubbles.
Here are my molds!
For the casting medium, I poured water in the molds and left them in the freezer overnight. I put the water in the head mold by folding up the flap that I cut into the mold. I tried to pour more water to overflow the mold shape to make sure the entire head mold was filled with water. I did the same for the tire in order to make sure the mold was completely filled before putting them both in the freezer.
The next morning, I removed my ice sculptures from the mold pretty easily and got two beautiful ice sculptures! The tire came out well as expected, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how the head came out! The details for the head aren't as accurate as the original, but I thought some of the details, especially the nose and cheeks, turned out well. The eyes could have been more detailed, but overall I was pretty happy with the result and could imagine casting more ice sculptures in the future!
I had a lot of fun trying out molding and casting and would love to try out various object to mold and different casting mediums (especially chocolate YUM!) in the future! I also have some leftover Sorta-Clear 37 since I had about eight ounces and casted some small materials, so I wonder what else I could make...