Very Handy

Fortune Teller Hand's

Wire Armature

The Fortune Tellers hands were made from a small washer with thin pieces of Aluminium wire wrapped around to form fingers, two strands of the thin Aluminium wire were then twisted to form his wrist. The fingers were then cut back to my desired size and the wrists glued into small pieces of Brass K&S to make them replaceable. I then covered the palm in milliput leaving a hole in the middle to help my character hold an item if needs be. 

Sculpts

I then began sculpting my hands for this I used a new material I found called "Gedeo Modelling Paste" a material that when placed in the freezer becomes very hard, which was such a huge help in laying up my hands for two part moulds. I first created a basic shape of the hand out of the Gedeo and then went in with sculpting tools and the added finer details. 

Laying Up

Part One

I laid up the first part of my mould by placing my hands on top of a rolled out piece of plasticine i then traced round my hands into the plasticine and cut out simple silhouettes. My hands then went into the freezer for a couple of hours till hard, I then placed them onto the plasticine were I had cut out the silhouettes and pressed gently so the hands become imbedded till about half way up. The great thing about the Gedeo used to sculpt the hands here, is that none of the fine details I had worked into the sculpts were lost when I pressed them slightly into the plasticine. Finally using sculpting tools I filled in any gaps around the hands with small pieces of plasticine. The edges where then built to form a rectangle box making sure it was sealed all around, care was then taken poring the plaster in from one corner and the cast was left to set.

Part Two

Firstly, the hands didn't stay in the plasticine like my first attempt last year! (Click here for more information). To make the second half of my mould I placed pieces of plasticine around the hands to create a smaller surface area for when both sides will be pressed together, this would create a smaller split line. I applied a small amount of Petroleum Jelly to the areas of plaster showing so that the second half of my mould would not bond itself to the first. I then repeated the final two steps used in part one of my mould.

Final Two Part Mould

Part One

Part Two

Above are photos of the final two sides of my mould with any air bubbles found being filled with Milliput. I found a lot of air bubbles on the second half of the mould, this could have been down to the amount of petroleum jelly I used. 

Diana's Hands

Wire Armature

Diana's hands were made the same way as the Fortune Tellers a small washer with thin pieces of Aluminium wire wrapped around and twisted to form fingers, two strands of the thin Aluminium wire were then twisted to form his wrist and glued into small pieces of Brass K&S to make them replaceable. I then covered the palm in milliput leaving a hole in the middle to help my character hold an item if needs be. 

Sculpts

I sculpted Diana's hands using the same material used on the Fortune Tellers "Gedeo Modelling Paste" a material that when placed in the freezer becomes very hard. I first created a basic shape of the hand out of the Gedeo and then went in with sculpting tools and the added finer details. I apologise if the hands look rough in places I foolishly forgot to take photos of my hands before making my moulds. But lucky for me they survived being sandwiched in plaster, the photos above being taken from then.  

Laying up

Part one

I laid up the first part of my mould the same way I did the Fortune Tellers hands: by placing my hands on top of a rolled out piece of plasticine, cutting out simple silhouettes and then gently pressing my hands into the plasticine imbedding them till about half way up. I then used sculpting tools to fill in any gaps around the hands with small pieces of plasticine. The edges where then built to form a rectangle box making sure it was sealed all around, care was then taken poring the plaster in from one corner and the cast was left to set.

Part Two

As I did for the Fortune Tellers hands  I placed pieces of plasticine around the hands to create a smaller surface area for when both sides will be pressed together, this would create a smaller split line. I applied a small amount of Petroleum Jelly to the areas of plaster showing so that the second half of my mould would not bond itself to the first. I then repeated the final two steps used in part one of Diana's hand mould.

Final Two Part Mould

Part One

Part Two

Above are photos of the final two sides of my mould with any air bubbles found being filled with Milliput. I found that Diana's hands came out better than the Fortune Tellers, which could of been a case of trial and error as it had been some months since I'd taken a mould of a pair of hands.