One of my classes this semester is DBM220, Materials and Build Processes. In it, we are learning more about how to choose materials for various projects.
For the past few weeks, we've been learning how to use plaster to cast molds of objects.
This week, we've been playing with plaster gauze. We had to cast a body part of our choosing using the plaster gauze. My partner and I decided to make a mold of our hands in the middle of a thumb war. The plaster gauze is quick drying, but that didn't mean it was easy to sit still while it dried!
Once it dried, my partner cut a slit in the plaster near his wrist and attempted to remove his hand. We were afraid it would crumble or crack, so we had to be really careful not to put too much pressure on the mold. We thought that it would be easy to pull our hands out, but that was not the case! Although we had attempted to protect our skin with vaseline, the plaster managed to pull off some wrist hairs. Also, the thumbs were pretty hard to remove, due to the pressure the mold was putting on them.
All in all, it was pretty fun to play around with and we were happy with the results. There is a little bit of a loss of detail when you use plaster gauze, but it still came out looking pretty cool.