Soft clay for making a mould of hands & feet

choccyface2006

I have also posted this on the "I wanna buy it/do it board" but I know there are lots of crafty people on here that maybe able to help too (fingers crossed!)

I am having ago of making a cast of my little nephew and nieces hands and feet as a gift and need help deciding (& sourcing) suitable "soft clay" to make the mould with. Soft clay is what is recommended but I can only find Fimo clay on Ebay which is brightly coloured and abit fancy for what I need.



I have tried using soft play doh and regular plaster of paris and although it worked very well it lacked alot of the detail. Is there anywhere I can buy this clay? I don't need to fire it otherwise I'd never get the impression off, also, do I need a different kind of plaster?

I am going to Hobbycraft tomorrow and could do with knowing what to look for!

Thanks

Sarah x

Red_Squirrel_4

Hi, not sure if it's what you need but Early Learning Centre do an air drying modelling clay, large tub for about £5 I think. It's plain grey, you could paint it pink or blue or even cream once dry if the grey is a bit drab.

Hth

choccyface2006

Thanks, I have used that before but I went in there today but they didn't have any It doesn't matter what colour it is since I would only be using it to make the mould and plaster to make the cast!

Sarah

RustyFlange

Is that how you get the effect then? using clay to do the actual print and then plaster of paris to get it to stick out so to speak? can you peel the clay off afterwards ok?

Sorry I can't help with the clay but I am interested in how it is done

Lemoncurd

We used alginate from a sculpture supplier (have also seen it in art shops) to make a mould and then made the cast using plaster of paris. You can also do whole hand/foot casts using this method, they look gorgeous.

http://www.tiranti.co.uk/subdivision_product_list.asp?Subcategory=54&Subdivision=

Lemoncurd

btw I was assured that it was perfectly safe to use on a baby before we tried it, apparently they use alginate to make dental casts.

choccyface2006

Lemoncurd - Yes, I have seen alginate on Ebay and its perfectly safe, but the company that I saw doing these mould used soft clay which I thought must be better?


Rustyflange - yes, you roll a peice of clay out (making sure it is big enough to make a decent boarder) press the babies/young child's hand or foot into the clay pressing each digit in turn and the sole/heel and lift out, then you need to make a frame (I used cardboard) to go round in a square, fill with plaster of paris so there is about a 1/2 to 1inch depth, leave to dry (approx 1 hour) and then peel the clay away to reveal the impression.

I then painted it in dilute pastel paint, left it for 10 mins and washed it under the tap rubbing at the flat parts of the impression to give a more subtle washed out appearance.

Like I said it worked a treat but there not a great deal of detail unlike the ones done professionally Hope that helps!

Sarah x

choccyface2006

This is my attempt, as I said, its lacking in detail and quite crudly done really, I would need to file it down to get smooth edges but its ok for a first try



Sarah x

RustyFlange

Thanks for the help ... your attempt looks fab!

Gives me an idea for fathers day this year ... personally I think detail isn't as important as you still have the hand itself and if it is a little ones hands then even better

choccyface2006

Thanks RustyFlange - hopefully I'll get what I need tomorrow to make a better one so look out for more pics!

Sarah x

dizzy_lizzie

Hi. Don't know if you want a little poem to go with this, but found this if you want to use...

"This is the hand
You used to hold
When I was only
xx years old."

Thought it was quite sweet. There's others as well but I do like this one.
Luvz Dizzy x