Casting and Creating Modeling Work With EnvironMolds, LLC

The art of mold making and casting makes it possible to reproduce anything you wish - be it a figurine, candle, soap, jewelry or even screws, door knobs, tires and architectural details. Similarly, it is even possible to duplicate body parts or even make face masks. An extensive offerings of materials and supplies are available to the artist such as clay, wax, plaster, gypsum, alginate, resins, rubbers and more.

Armed with the right materials and techniques, even a novice can replicate almost anything. EnvironMolds, a leading manufacturer and supplier of mold making and casting products, makes it easy for us to access all kinds of materials, supplies and equipment required in mold making and casting.

In addition to the regular range of rubber, resin, alginate, plaster and other materials, the art materials company has even covered studio accessories such as chisels, mixers, rasps, brushes, containers, gloves, masks, modeling stands, vacuum chambers, turntables, pumps, mounts, name plates and more. Every small requirement is thoughtfully covered – be it fibers, fillers, release agents, paints, dyes, eyes, body parts or anything else.

What helps EnvironMolds emerge as a truly comprehensive resource for mold makers and casting artists is the broad range of instructional materials, books and videos. This is supplemented by hands-on workshops and the founder, Ed McCormick is always ready to consult with artists who are in need assistance.

The company itself functions as a complete almanac with its How-to sections, safety instructions and more. So if you want to pick up stock of silicone rubber and polyurethanes or just find out how to make a two-part mold, look no further than EnvironMolds!

Plaster is a popular material for making molds, shell molds, casts and life casts. All you have to do is mix it with water to form a smooth paste. This will set quickly to form a hard mold or cast that can be sculpted easily.

However, regular plaster or Plaster of Paris is naturally soft and chalky. It starts peeling and cracking over time and fails to hold details well.

EnvironMolds offers specially-treated and high definition plaster powder that yield durable and high-definition molds and casts. Take a look:

• No. 1 Pottery Plaster – This superior plaster serves well for ceramic and latex slurry molds as well as for casting decorative ceramic ware, sanitary ware, dinnerware and fine china. It should be mixed with potable water and higher water temperature will significantly reduce the setting times.

• Dental Plaster – This white plaster forms a smooth mix and is easy to use. It is especially formulated for use in the complex field of dentistry such as articulation and flasking procedures. An advantage is that it does not harden like dental stone.

•  Ultracal 30 – This extreme-strength gypsum cement is particularly useful when high accuracy and surface hardness are required, such as close tolerance tooling or duplicator molds.

Each of these plaster varieties is available in 5 lbs, 20 lbs and 50 lbs packages.

In addition, EnvironMolds also stocks a full range of mold making and casting materials such as alginate, polyurethanes, latex, silicone and more.

Alginate is every life casting artist’s dream come true. It captures detailed body molds without harming the model in any way. However, it is a soft mold and needs to be reinforced with a shell mold for it to retain the shape.

While plaster or cheesecloth will work effectively as a mother mold that keeps the alginate from flopping on itself, another problem arises. Given that alginate does not adhere to anything, how will the alginate mold and plaster bind to each other?

Artists have devised a novel means by embedding fiber in the alginate mold surface. The fibers are what will bind the plaster to the alginate, thus keeping the two molds together after demolding!

However, regular cotton fiber will not do here. EnvironMolds offers veterinary grade and fluffy Kendal cotton roll for this purpose. And you don’t have to coat the entire alginate mold surface with the cotton fiber either; just a small square will do the job!

Indeed, just cut out about a six-inch square from the cotton roll and separate it into two equal halves. The inside will have soft and fluffy fiber which should be gently patted on to the alginate surface after spraying it with an alginate retarder. A light touch is needed so as not to disturb the alginate surface. One half of the cotton pad is enough as the fibers will adhere to the plaster mold and keep them together!

EnvironMolds even offers brass name plates engraved to give the finished life cast and elegant and professional finish!

The leading art supplier, EnvironMolds provides a variety of silicone mold rubbers to suit any kind of mold making activity. This two-part RTV material has emerged as the best choice for various mold types. And there are different varieties to suit different applications, such as:

• MoldRite 25 – This is a very popular variety as it is suitable for most general silicone mold making. It will create traditional silicone molds for figurines, giftware prototype tooling and stereolithography. It has a good shelf life, pot life of 2 hours, 40 minute working time and requires about 6 hours curing before it can be demolded. 

• 5-Minute Mold Putty – This is your choice of silicone rubber for making molds very quickly and easily. You can make good impressions within just 5 minutes even without a mold box. The silicone mold can be cast immediately. It is suitable for food grade applications too.

• SkinRite 10 – This is a soft and translucent silicone rubber that can be used for special effects or to simulate real skin surfaces. All it requires is a little tinting. It is apt for making realistic masks and doll reborning

• LifeRite – If you are looking for a skin safe silicone rubber for making life casts and duplicating body parts, LifeRite is the perfect answer. The body molds will be reusable too. 

•  BakeSil – This food safe silicone is FDA approved and can be easily used to make food molds and baking containers.

Perfect the art of making one part and two part molds to enjoy making silicone molds of almost anything!

As an art teacher, I am often faced with confused students who just don’t know when to make single part molds and when two or more part molds are required.

EnvironMolds has everything that a mold maker, life casting artist or sculptor might need and then some more. The catalog not only covers a full range of mold making and casting materials but also extends to all kinds of supplies, equipment and accessories that are routinely required by artists in their studios. The art supplies are truly varied and there’s almost nothing that can be found wanting.

Take the Bubble Buster for instance. EnvironMolds has carefully included this PVA mixture in its materials section so as to help artists cut down on the risk of bubble formation when making molds.

When making a mold, first apply a release agent on the original model before spraying a generous amount of Bubble Buster to cover the entire model. Now you can continue with the mold making and readily pour the mold material over the model without worrying about any bubbles.

The trick is that the mixture reduces the surface tension so that bubbles will not stick to the mold! The mix comes in a ready-to-use 6oz and 16 oz spray bottle.

Similarly, EnvironMolds also proffers a rich selection of brass name plates engraved in the art supplies section. You can choose from the sizes, fonts and mounting type to get a customized name plate for your artwork. This will instantly elevate your creation to a professional and gallery-like finish.

Check out your requirements at Artmolds.com.

As a fledgling casting artist, I have become quite adept at capturing the form of simple objects in negative molds. All I have to do is secure the model in a box before pouring or applying the mold making material of my choice. I am adroitly able to capture the intricate undercuts and angles with clay, alginate and even resins.

Now I am just itching to move on and try my hand at making molds of more complicated objects. I picked a shapely figurine for this task and was well aware that the level of detailing all around the model required me to make two part molds.

In simple words, this means that I cannot make the mold in one go. What I need is two molds with each part capturing one half of the model before merging them into a single composite mold.

I chose plaster for this job and started by making a parting line all around the figurine. I followed an ArtMolds video that showed me how to portion off below the parting line with clay and make keys on the clay perimeter. Making a mold of the remaining half was quite easy.

Once cured, I carefully removed the clay border before making a similar mold of the other side. The video guided me on exactly how to join the two parts of the mold together and strap it securely for the subsequent casting.

The mold turned out a little shaky but I was still elated with my first attempt at two part molds!