ArtMolds EZ CAST KIT Instructions & Video Demonstration
A shout out and thank you for selecting ArtMolds EZ CAST KIT hand casting for couples, infants, and families!
The video below shows the EZ Cast Kit is used to create baeutiful hand casting keepsakes that will last a life time. ArtMolds has been designing and offering the highest quality molding and casting kits for over twenty years including, Hand Casting Face Casting, Pregnancy Casting, Torso Casting and Infant casting kits. You can view our videos on life casting here.
How to Improve Your Hand Casting Art Work:
Disposing of Your Kit Waste: The mold making material is made from environmentally friendly material and will breakdown over time. You can dispose of this in your compost pile or break it up and add it to you flower beds where it will decompse over time. However, please do not dump the castimg material in any of your plumbing fixtures as it wll clog them and make for an expensive repair. Instead discard any left over casting material in one of the bags that the material caame with and put it in your trash container,
Wearing Rings and Watches: You will notice the example hand casting in the beginning of this video shows a wedding ring. The ring was worn during the casting and painted gold as part of the finishing process. So, rings and waterproof watches may be worn. But there are important exceptions. Rings with large ornamental jewelry, such as engagement rings could rip the molding material during the demold process. When in doubt turn them toward the palm or remove them altogether.
Repairs: Accidents happen. Though you were careful in removing the molding material from your new casting a finger broke. Please don’t despair. This is easily fixed. But you must wait 3 days to allow the casting to dry. Then apply a little super glue to both siders of the break for a minute or two to allow the glue to set. You will never notice where the break occurred.
Finishing: Do not use all your casting powder. Reserve a quarter cup for repairs after demolding. Once demolded you will observe to types of blemishes “outies” little casting warts and “innies” little depression caused by air bubbles. The “outies can be easily popped off while your casting is still fresh using a craft stick. For the “innies,” mixed a little left over casting powder with water to make a paste. Use that to fill in any holes. All these repairs must be done while your casting is fresh from demolding and still damp or they won’t stick. For more severe depressions and holes you can use spackling compound which is commonly used to repair holes in drywall. This material is formulated to fill larger areas. Once it dries you can easily sand it smooth. It will dry whiter that your casting stone so you will need to paint your casting to even out the color and cover the repairs you make.
Sealing: Allow your hand casting to dry for a week to ten days. Then seal it will a clear coat of a polyurethane matte finish. If you do not seal or paint your art piece mold could grow on it during damp weather. Should that happen clean the entire piece with bleach to bring back the clean white surface or the original material,
Mounting for Display. To mount your work of art you must flatten the bottom of the casting. Then using two-part epoxy (available at the hardware store or online) you can attach it to a wooden, or marble display base. For a professional display add an engraved name plate with the subjects name a date.
Hand Casting Examples:
As you gain experience in life casting, you will probably want to improve your hand casting techniques. The above cold cast bronze hand casting began with the EZ Cast Kit. That is a plaster stone cast was created. The mold was made of a man in his nineties who was in a nursing home at the time. A silicone mold was then made of the plaster casting and bronze powder was combine with a little polyurethane resin and filled the silicon mold. The bronze and resin couldn’t be poured into the original alginate-based mold as resin foams up when it meets water. Alginate is mostly water.
The bronze statue can be patinaed with patina acids just like a hot poured foundry casting. The final hand casting statue was epoxied to a marble base and an engraved metal plaque was attached.
Several months after the mold was made, our subject passed away. The bronze statue was given to the family as a memento. It is highly treasured to this day. When we boast that these keepsakes can last a lifetime, our claim is understated as this one lasted well beyond a lifetime and will be passed down to the family in years to come.
EZ CAST KIT is a registered trademark of EnvironMolds LLC