Joined
·
876 Posts
Seems there are basically two camps of DIY Haunters. The clay and cast/mold people and the paper mache people. Everyone is always talking about casting items in latex, or plaster, or silicone. You usually have to order the materials online and pay for shipping, or pay through the nose for a very small amount of materials from a local craft store.
Did you know that you can do the same thing with paper mache?
Specifically paper mache clay. I haven't reinvented the wheel here, I'm just using techniques artist in other areas have been doing for years. I bet there are people on this board that already know how to cast in paper mache clay, but I have not seen anyone mention it anywhere on the boards or show examples.
I'm still playing with the technique at the moment, but I've been very pleased with the results I've seen so far. Plus, this comes right on the heals of MacabreRob's thread on creating Moldable Silicone on the Cheap (Oogoo) . The two items go hand in hand. You can make molds out of Ooogoo, and cast with the PM clay.
I am using a clay recipe from PM artist Jonni Good. She makes wonderful PM art pieces. Granted they are a little tame for haunt use, but her techniques translate directly to what we do. She is a great resource to check out. While you are checking out Jonni's recipe and techniques, pop on over to Dan Reeder the Monster Man's site for more great PM techniques.
I will update this post with more info and a proper How-To if there is enough interest, although you smart people could probably figure it all out by just reading the links in this post and playing with the material.
In the meantime, here is a video of a couple items I cast in PM clay. The drying time for these items was accelerated dramatically by using a microwave to dry the pieces in two minutes intervals. The small white skull only took 15 minutes to mold, dry, and demould. That's 15 minutes for a wad of gluey paper pulp to dry completely. That's faster than latex.
Did you know that you can do the same thing with paper mache?
Specifically paper mache clay. I haven't reinvented the wheel here, I'm just using techniques artist in other areas have been doing for years. I bet there are people on this board that already know how to cast in paper mache clay, but I have not seen anyone mention it anywhere on the boards or show examples.
I'm still playing with the technique at the moment, but I've been very pleased with the results I've seen so far. Plus, this comes right on the heals of MacabreRob's thread on creating Moldable Silicone on the Cheap (Oogoo) . The two items go hand in hand. You can make molds out of Ooogoo, and cast with the PM clay.
I am using a clay recipe from PM artist Jonni Good. She makes wonderful PM art pieces. Granted they are a little tame for haunt use, but her techniques translate directly to what we do. She is a great resource to check out. While you are checking out Jonni's recipe and techniques, pop on over to Dan Reeder the Monster Man's site for more great PM techniques.
I will update this post with more info and a proper How-To if there is enough interest, although you smart people could probably figure it all out by just reading the links in this post and playing with the material.
In the meantime, here is a video of a couple items I cast in PM clay. The drying time for these items was accelerated dramatically by using a microwave to dry the pieces in two minutes intervals. The small white skull only took 15 minutes to mold, dry, and demould. That's 15 minutes for a wad of gluey paper pulp to dry completely. That's faster than latex.