Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1898-05-27
MOULDING THE FACE
A COATING OF OIL AND THEN
PAINT WITH SOFT PLASTER.
Then Make Your Own Casts-Amateurs
Encouraged to Become Experts After
Little Time-Trials of the Sitter
Are Many.

The art of plaster casting is so SIM
pie that with little patience any one
may acquire it and get the most pleas
ing results. 1t is an inexpensive
amusement. The plaster costs only u
barrel, says the Boston Globe, and
enough may be had for rs cents to last
the most enthusiastic amateur for
months.
The first thing to consider in making,
cast of hand is to have the hand
to be experimental with in the best
possible condition. The nails should be
carefully shaped and the cuticle press
ed into place. The hand should be
washed in warm water so that the mus
Giles become relaxed and the fingers
| supple and the cold tap run over II
long enough to close the pores, rub the
hand and as far up the arm as the cast
is to be taken, with glycerine. This
will prevent the plaster from sticking.
Great care should be taken not to let
the glycerine escape any part. 1t
should be brushed under the finger
nails with a small cameps hair brush.
Take a large bowl and pour the water
into it, then sprinkle the plaster in I'M
til it reaches the surface of the water.
! Stir briskly until the whole is OF uni
form consistency. 1t must not, how
ever, be stirred too long or the plaster
loses it's nature and will not harden.
When it is first mixed the plaster
should be- like very thin cream. The
hand upon which the glycerin has been
rubbed is then laid carelessly and natu-
rally upon a piece of old sheeting or
a soft towel, which is dropped upon the
table and allowed to assume its natural
pose. Then the plaster should be TAX
en- out in a small teacup and poured
over the hand in as thin coat as pos
sible at first So that no air bubbles
may remain the caster should blow the
| plaster until every bit of air has es-
capped. After the hand is well covered
with the first coat, the rest of the plas7
ter should be quickly added and even
ly distributed until the cast is about
two inches thick. The hand should be
kept perfectly quiet until the plaster
has SET This takes about fifteen min
utes. AS soon as the hand begins to
feel the heat of the plaster it should
be carefully lifted up by the caster and
turned over. Then all the little bits of
paster which have leaked through be-
tween the fingers should be broken
away by the caster. Sometimes dull
tool, such as a stone-cutter's chisel, Is
of much assistance, and 1t must be re-
membered that all the patience of the
caster and the sitter are required to
remove the hand without injury to the
mold. After the plaster has had ten
or fifteen minutes in which to set the
sitter may begin to wiggle and gradu-
ally work the fingers without doing
harm to the cast, and though the hand
appears to be firmly imbedded in the
, plaster. it will soon be felt to be break
ing away if the muscles of the fingers
are firmly stretched backward and for
ward. Once the hand is free the cast
must be placed where it will dry slow
ly. 1t should not be touched for two or
three days. Before the cast is made the
mold should be washed out with boiled
oil and soap. This should be applied
with soft brush which will not in
jure the fine lines in the mold. After
the plaster has set for the second time
the outer covering can be gently chip
ped out by blunt stone cutters, chisel
and a hammer. This destroys the
mold, but should leave the cast per-
feet. To mount the hand, fill a small
oblong tray which has been well rinsed
with either glycerin or boiled oil with
plaster of paris, and before it is quite
hard place the hand on the plaster so
that the finger tips, wrist and palm
just become imbedded enough to ed
here. 80 :.,';
The casting of the face is no more
difficult than the casting of the hand,
if it is done in the proper way. 1t is
most simple to have the sitter lie on
his back, with low cushion under the
head. Great care should be taken in
covering the face, particularly the eye
lids with glycerin. II
The eyebrows should be covered with
a thin coating of clay, and mustache
should be built out with clay modelled
in just the form in which it grows, and
then glycerined. A towel should be
| placed far back under the chin brought
around the front of the ears, and fas-
tened firmly over the top of the fore
head, just where the hair begins.
Small pieces of wax or clay shsuld
be inserted in the nostrils, through
which the sitter draws breath. This
allows the lips to be kept naturally
closed while the mold is being taken
| of the mouth.
Before the plaster is applied it is
most essential that the caster explain
to the sitter that after the plaster has
| been applied he will become conscious
| Of the feeling that 1t is going to fall off
the face. Many a splendid cast has been
spoiled by the movement of the mus
| cles of sitters in their efforts to ex-
| plain that the plaster is about to fall
away from the face. This sensation is
| caused by its hardening, and is always