Body Casting Manual
A complete body casting instruction manual explaining in details how to make a realistic, life size and very elegant plaster sculpture of someone’s torso (or any other body part)
“Body Casting Manual”
Olivier Duhamel
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2009-2011 Olivier Duhamel
This book is available in print at most online retailers
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Limitations of liability
Bodyscape Waiheke Island Sculpture Studio assumes no responsibility and will not be liable for any damages to persons or properties caused by or arising from your access to this tutorial. We assume no responsibility and will not be liable for any accident or injuries caused by or arising from your utilization of the techniques described in this manual.
Table of content
Constructing the plaster shell
Appendix B – Body casting artists
Introduction
Written by Waiheke Island sculptor and life caster Olivier Duhamel, this life casting guide documents in detail all the steps necessary to make a mold and plaster casting of someone’s chest.
The resulting sculpture will be an amazingly detailed reproduction of someone’s body, a durable, faithful and elegant memento.
This is an easy, safe, fun and inexpensive project. These simple, detailed and complete instructions and illustrations will ensure that your project is a success.
Although this guide uses a woman’s bust as an example, the same techniques can be applied to cast any other body part.
The second part of the manual discusses some more advanced techniques and methods and explains how to approach some other casting projects such as pregnant belly, face, hands and feet.
All measurements are expressed in both metric and US customary units.
About Life casting
Before delving into the heart of the matter, I thought that I would write a bit more about life casting and body casting in general. You can choose to skip this section but make sure to read everything else
What is life casting?
Life casting, also called body casting is the art of making a mold of a live model to make a life size, life like three dimensional reproduction of someone’s body or part of the body.
A bit of history
The ancient Egyptians are the first recorded life casting craftsmen. Indeed some of their works survived centuries and can be admired in museums around the world. However, more modern techniques and materials have allowed life casting artists to make much more realistic pieces. This guide will show you how to achieve the most incredibly detailed reproduction at very little costs.
Famous body casters
Body casting has long been dismissed a “just body casting” on the pretence that it was simply copying life instead of interpreting it though the artist’s hands. The very respectable Auguste Rodin was once accused of having cast one of his sculptures. The master was greatly offended by these accusations.
In more recent times, artists such as George Segal, John deAndrea and Duane Hanson have done work of such excellence that they have given to the medium its letters of nobility.
Materials and equipment
This is the list of tools and materials you will
need to complete the project. It should all cost no more than a
restaurant meal for two and a bottle of wine.
One
plastic bucket
One bag of 1 kg of Alginate (35 oz or 2 lbs)
5
rolls of plaster bandage (10 cm * 3.5 m) (4 in * 4 yd)
A few pairs
of latex gloves
10 kg of Plaster of Paris (20 lbs)
2 or 3 empty
soft drink bottles
A plastic bowl
A power drill and a paint
mixer attachment
One chip brush of medium size
Scissors
Cotton
balls
A kitchen scale
A clean towel
Alginate is a natural compound made from seaweed. It is sold as a fine powder which when mixed with water makes a paste that will set and harden in a few minutes. Dentists traditionally use alginate to take tooth impression. It is organic and skin safe.
Which alginate to buy?
I am using an alginate called Aroma fine DF III made by GC Corporation of Japan.
Dentists want their alginate to set as fast as possible for the comfort of their patient. The body caster wants an alginate that sets more slowly. (3 to 5 minutes at room temperature). Do not buy anything advertised as “fast setting”. Other than that, most alginate will work for your purpose.
Which plaster gauze to buy?
Plaster gauze is what doctors use to cast a broken limb. My preferred plaster gauze is Gypsona 10 cm wide by 3.5metres long. (4 in * 4 yd) but anything else will work just as well.
Where to buy?
To find suppliers in your area, search for the name of your nearest city and the following keywords: dental supplies, alginate, medical supplies, plaster gauze, mold (or mould) making supplies. To make it quick and easy to find a supplier in your area, we have listed a selection of online shops in the appendix at the back of the manual.
Plaster of Paris, plastic buckets, chip brushes and latex gloves can be purchased from most hardware stores. You will only need 6 to 7 Kg. of plaster (12 lbs) but it generally comes in larger bags. You want standard Plaster of Paris. Do not buy any kind of fast setting plaster.
Additional materials
You
may also need the following:
A large
sheet of plastic to cover and protect the floor of your work area
A
pile of old clothes
An arm’s length of strong electric cable or
chai
A small pot of plaster filler
A small bag of white
shellac
A sponge
This is about all the materials you will need.
Process overview
This section describes the body casting process in broad lines. There are two major steps in the process. The first step consists of making a mold of the live model. The second step consists of casting plaster into that mold.
This is not unlike photography where you first record an image and then print it on paper.
The mold is made of two separate layers. A first layer, which I call the “alginate skin”, captures the skin texture but is too flexible to remember the pose and too fragile to receive liquid plaster. A second layer of plaster bandages must be applied over the alginate to set its position and give the mold enough strength to receive the liquid plaster. This second layer is called the “plaster shell” or “mother mold”.
You will apply a layer of alginate directly on your model’s skin. You will then cover this alginate skin with several layers of plaster bandages to encase the alginate skin in a plaster shell. These are the same kind of bandages that a doctor would use to cast a broken arm. When the plaster bandages have set, the entire mold is removed from the model and set on the floor, open side up. The whole operation takes no more than half an hour.
A batch of liquid plaster is then mixed and painted or poured inside the alginate mold. After a few hours, the plaster has set and the alginate and bandage mold can be removed to reveal a solid plaster replicate of your model’s body. The first part of this manual describes in more detail this simple procedure
Before starting
First read this entire manual to familiarize yourself with the process and make sure you understand every step.
Before
starting you must have prepared a few things:
Decided on a time
and location
Put water in the fridge
Have briefed your
model
Pre-cut plaster gauzes
Have all materials and tools
ready
Keep this manual with you for easy reference
You must set aside at least a couple of hours. You must also decide where to operate, bearing in mind that nudity may be involved (privacy) and that the process can be a bit messy with alginate and plaster drips. There will be plaster on the floor. A garage is preferable to your lounge, but if necessary the work area can be protected with a drop cloth or plastic sheet. In summer, outdoors is perfect. Easy access to a source of water such as garden hose or laundry tub is preferable.
The day before, find and clean soft drink bottles, fill them with 2.8 liters of clean water. (2.9 qt or 5.9 pt) and put them in your fridge overnight. This water must be as clean as possible, filtered water is preferable as impurities in tap water may interfere with the alginate’s properties.
On the day, instruct your model not to wear any underwear or tight clothing that may mark the skin. Such marks take a long time to fade away and would show in the final casting.
Cut the plaster gauze in length of about 50cm (1.5 ft) and loosely roll these strips again. Pile them in the plastic bowl. Attach the mixer blade to your power drill. (or find a strong mixing spatula.)
Make sure that your model understands the whole procedure and knows what to expect.
Do
not open plaster gauze bags earlier than a few hours before using
them. Humidity in the atmosphere may cause them to set and render
them unusable.
Prepare everything before the model arrives.
Body
piercings can be cast as long as they will not get trapped in the
alginate. As a rule, I advise to remove them.
Choosing a pose
The pose must be comfortable enough for the model to keep still for about twenty minutes.
The model can be standing, sitting or lying on the side or on the back but remember that a casting made on a prone female model will look very odd if displayed vertically or hung on a wall.
Raising arms above the head will make the breast perk up but you will be casting armpits. One arm up and the other down will give a nice movement to the final sculpture. Play around, have fun.
Memorise the casting area by drawing with your finger an imaginary line starting from the neck, following the top of the shoulder, cutting across the arm over to the chest, across the rib cage a couple of inches below the breasts and up again on the opposite side. This is roughly the area of the casting illustration on the next page.
You may obviously decide to cast some other part of your model’s body but bear in mind that a bigger area would require more material than indicated in this manual.
Ask your model to wear old clothes from the waist down. This is because these clothes will most likely be soiled with alginate and plaster drip.
If she has long hair, it advisable to keep them inside a swimming cap.
Applying the alginate skin
This is the most difficult part of the casting process and much of the success of your casting will depend on how well you have done this part.
Mixing the Alginate
Bring the water bottles from the fridge and empty them in your clean plastic bucket. There must be 2.8 liters (2.9 qt or 5.9 pt) of cold water. Put on your latex gloves. Cut open the bag of alginate and pour its entire contents (1 kg) (35 oz or 2 lbs) in the water. You now need to act quickly and decisively. Your model is ready and waiting.
Plunge the power drill mixing blade into the bucket to mix the alginate to a thick creamy texture. This should be achieved in less than 1 minute. Mixing by hand if you do not have a power drill is also possible.
Applying the alginate
Scoop a bit of the alginate paste in each hand and apply it firmly on your model’s skin. Start from the top of the casting area and work your way down. Do not be shy as you want to push out any air bubble out of the alginate, massage it in firmly in a wiping motion to push out any air. Repeat to construct a thin layer over the entire casting area.
Make sure to push some alginate in any fold of skin, like under the breasts, (but not too much as it may distort the natural fall of the breasts.) or between arms and rib cage.