Latex Molds - Example 1 - A Latex Glove Mold by Joe Hildreth
In this example we are going to use a product called Mold Builder liquid latex rubber to make a simple glove mold. The master in this example is a Bishop from a chess game that I bought at a yard sale. The people next to me thought I was crazy for buying a chess set that had some missing pieces, but little do they know that armed with a little molding knowledge I could replace them.
STEP 1
This is one of the Bishops from the chess set I found. I want to reproduce this piece.
STEP 2
I will need some sort of base material to attach the master (pawn) to in order to create a glove mold of it. There are two items here. The one on the left is a 4 inch ceramic tile. The nice thing about ceramic tiles are they are slick and heat resistant, which gives them other uses besides a base for your master. The other is a piece of Plexiglas
STEP 3
Brushable Latex comes in a lot of varieties. Some much better than others. Mold builder pictured here is good for light weight work. For heavier castings like concrete you would want a heavier duty Latex like #80.
STEP 4
Sorry about the poor image quality. Here you see we have a coat of latex applied. Latex is a creamy color when wet but as it dries it will turn more of an amber color. When applying coats of latex be sure to alternate directions with each coat. It will give a stronger mold due to the grain of the brush strokes changing. On larger models, you can reinforce the mold with some gauze doped with more latex.
STEP 5
Here you see the latex has dried. You want to keep painting layers of latex on your model until you reach a thickness of about 1/8 inch for a small model like this to about 1/4 inch for large models that will have a mother mold. A concrete statue for example.
STEP 6
Here you see the mold has been pulled off the master and ready to pour in. It is important to dust your new mold with some talcum powder before you pull it off the master to prevent the latex from trying to stick to itself when you pull it.
NOTES:
1) I will add pictures of a finished piece as well as plaster mixing instructions as soon as I get a chance to do so.
