The Body Casting Process
The Body Casting Process
Moulding
Each Stage Explained
After a consultation in the showroom about what kind of casting you’d like we’ll go through to the casting room. You’ll use the bathroom to change out of your clothes whilst we prepare.
1. We’ll go through some poses with you in front of the mirror until we find the best position. We’ll then apply the mould release to you as necessary.
2. We then mix the alginate moulding material (the same stuff dentists use to make impressions inside the mouth). We quickly apply this to the body and it sets into a flexible rubber in just a few minutes.
3. Over the alginate we apply strips of plaster bandage (like they use to fix broken limbs). This forms a hard shell to support the alginate layer.
Casting
At this point the mould is made. While waiting for the plaster bandage layer to set hard we’ll support any areas that need it and remove any excess material from the body.
4. Within ten minutes the plaster bandage has fully set and we gently remove the whole alginate and plaster mould from the body in one piece.
5.We turn the mould over to reveal the inside which is a perfect impression of your body (only in reverse). Into this we apply the casting material in serveral layers.
6. Once the cast has set hard we turn it over again and carefully break away the plaster bandages and peel off the layer of alginate.
The mould is completely destroyed in the removal process. No copies of your original cast can thus be made. Once the cast is cut down and smoothed off it is ready to be finished in your choice of material.
7. As the final layers of the mould are removed we get our first glimpse of the rough cast which is a perfect copy of your body.
8. The rough cast is now ready to be cleaned up. We carefully and sensitively cut it down to create the most beneficial flow of the body’s lines and curves.
9. Finally the master cast is ready to be finished in any of the different materials we use. Bronzes require a secondary ‘master mould’ to be created to take a wax copy, known as the ‘lost wax’ process.
The Body Casting Process
Moulding
After a consultation in the showroom about what kind of casting you’d like we’ll go through to the casting room. You’ll use the bathroom to change out of your clothes whilst we prepare.
1. We’ll go through some poses with you in front of the mirror until we find the best position. We’ll then apply the mould release to you as necessary.
2. We then mix the alginate moulding material (the same stuff dentists use to make impressions inside the mouth). We quickly apply this to the body and it sets into a flexible rubber in just a few minutes.
3. Over the alginate we apply strips of plaster bandage (like they use to fix broken limbs). This forms a hard shell to support the alginate layer.
Casting
At this point the mould is made. While waiting for the plaster bandage layer to set hard we’ll support any areas that need it and remove any excess material from the body.
4. Within ten minutes the plaster bandage has fully set and we gently remove the whole alginate and plaster mould from the body in one piece.
5.We turn the mould over to reveal the inside which is a perfect impression of your body (only in reverse). Into this we apply the casting material in serveral layers.
6. Once the cast has set hard we turn it over again and carefully break away the plaster bandages and peel off the layer of alginate.
Finishing
The mould is completely destroyed in the removal process. No copies of your original cast can thus be made. Once the cast is cut down and smoothed off it is ready to be finished in your choice of material.
7. As the final layers of the mould are removed we get our first glimpse of the rough cast which is a perfect copy of your body.
8. The rough cast is now ready to be cleaned up. We carefully and sensitively cut it down to create the most beneficial flow of the body’s lines and curves.
9. Finally the master cast is ready to be finished in any of the different materials we use. Bronzes require a secondary ‘master mould’ to be created to take a wax copy, known as the ‘lost wax’ process.