It was quite common to make death masks of famous people to serve as a model for memorial statues. One of the students at a recent molding seminar wanted to make a mold from it. Clay has received calls from people asking how to make a death mask. I told her to block the nose and ear openings and coat the face with petroleum jelly to help release the mold. After my description she changed her mind.
Liquid rubber is used to make archeological and historic reproductions.
Footprints of the first humans and the excavations of dinosaur bones have been documented with rubber molds. A special liquid rubber was designed to cure under seawater. Treasure hunters use it to chronicle the arrangement of coins on the ocean floor after a shipwreck. Production and prototype Rubber molds are used for production and prototyping. Companies, that ultimately use mass production techniques, evaluate plastic prototypes produced from rubber molds.