cactus cast

[Valdo]

There was an article by Gary Weir in the Breakthrough magazine where he makes a mold out of Latex 74 and casts the cactus with smooth cast 300.  My question is can I make a mold with latex 74 and then cast with bondo.  I am really trying to look for materials that are more accessible to me although I don't know if it would be cheaper since I haven' t compared prices.  I have used Kerby's prickly pear cactus before and they are awesome but this customer wants a rattlesnake with quite a few cactus in the background and I would prefer just a few big cacti.   

[TrevorE]

Yes, I'd use the white hardener though.  I think it would be hard to color using red/blue without top coating it, which would fill in some detail.

[Kerby Ross]

Lots of different options.

Yes you can pour bondo into a Latex 74 cactus mold.  I have made cactus molds out of Latex 74 and bondo.  I use car wax for a mold release.  You can then use bondo, IE 3030, or foam to pour into the molds.



Kerby...

[Kerby Ross]

 **I think it would be hard to color using red/blue without top coating it, which would fill in some detail**

I use the red hardner and I don't use any primer paint when I paint my cactus pads.  The green covers it rather well.



Kerby...

[Valdo]

Thank you Trevor and Kirby.  I'll give it a try. 

[SouthTexasPighunter]

Hey all. Kirby what do you use for your needles? Can they be bought commercially or do you make them?
STP

[jbconnected]

marking

[Kerby Ross]

I use real cactus spines......but you can also use small pins (craft store).



Kerby...

[SouthTexasPighunter]

Thanks Kerby I think I have plenty of the real ones laying around
STP