Making a Simple Rock Mold with Silicone Caulk

[bill@hogheaven]

Boarhunter....you be sure & post a picture of your first set of non-typical antlers done that way. LOL

[boarhunter67]

Boarhunter....you be sure & post a picture of your first set of non-typical antlers done that way. LOL

  Antlers are another story.  I've never tried them.  I've seen many tutorials on how to replicate them, and every tutorial or article looks very tricky no matter what material is used.  I have had a lot of luck with bison horns, pig teeth and mouthsets, etc. using the tube silicone thinned with xylene and a bit of acrylic paint added, synlube as a releasing agent, and painting it on in layers over what I wanted to copy.  I've even done a couple of fish this way.  I've had great results.  With some of the larger molds like bass, I made a mother mold of plaster or rock hard to help the silicone hold the shape.  I've gotten amazing detail.  I'm sure the more expensive stuff is better, but for what I've done the tube stuff from Home Depot or Walmart has worked well.  The only thing I've had trouble with is thin stuff like fish fins.  I'm not sure if the more expensive stuff would work better or if my technique is just needing improvement.  If I was sure it wasn't my technique, I would invest in some of the expensive stuff because I hate spending so much time fixing my fins when I de-mold them. 

[black wolf]

wesel try to hard boil the egg first

[black wolf]

thanks for the tip, I am goint to try it this weekend on a log that I want to make up for a coon thanks again

[mousesong]

Hi all! Much as taxidermy fascinates me I don't think I ever foresaw that I'd be signing up for a forum

But this method has spread pretty far and you guys seem to be the most knowledgeable about it (and way nicer than most forums I've run across lately), and I had a few questions before I invested the time in using it.

I have some small mostly-columnar sculptures, about two inches high and about an inch across. They have some curves in them, a little less than the degree you'd see in a coke bottle. There is a fat part near the top and then a slightly thinner "neck" underneath. It's not a lot thinner--just very slightly dips in, as if it had been lightly compressed with a finger. My question is this:

If I mold them so that the base of the sculpture is the opening of the mold, would they successfully release from the mold? Is it flexible enough, or would the fattest parts get caught in the "neck" of the mold and refuse to release? It's hard for me to tell from the pictures etc. whether this mold would suit my purposes or if (sigh) I am going to have to make a two-piece mold and deal with the flashing and associated mess Grrr undercuts!

I need about... oh... fifty of them? From around five original sculpts. Would the mold hold up to that many casts--around ten per mold? I'll be casting in clear resin.

If worse comes to absolute worst, I can make the mold individually each time and break it for each cast, but I'll have to raise my end prices considerably and that's also kind of a pain

Thank you in advance for y'all's help!

[kirby/575.693.6699]

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[Old Fart]

I don't know how I missed this thread before this. I've been making rock molds like these, both from the silicone and latex, for many years. A trick I learned from Jeff Compton, was to make a splash coat of plaster in the mold before the Bondo. This will give you a softer look to your finished rock, without a shine. Willis Houston(former owner of Dixiland Supply) made antler molds this way with a fabric reinforcement. He switched over to the catalized silicone, so apparently he found it less than satisfactory.

[Camocladgal]

thanks for the tip, I am goint to try it this weekend on a log that I want to make up for a coon thanks again

Hope you post how this turned out!

[madtrapper22]

All I can say is wow great post thanks for the lesson

[boarhunter67]

Mousesong, it is somewhat flexable so it should release, but you might need to shoot some air into it to make sure it unmolds completely before peeling off.  If it doesn't, make a releaf cut and pin this shut when re-using.

[FIELD2FOREVER]

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[doedumatch]

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