appeal for craft help

This is an appeal for help making plaster-of-paris neckerchief slides and I
have also come into possession of candy molds for small cars, spiders and
others shapes from a garage/yard/tag sale that I was hoping to be able to
mold as crafts for use at our Derby. I also have the hard plastic
"candy/craft" mold of the different ranks - bobcat, bear, wolf etc. It is
the large 3-D head (figural type) - not the flat bas relief type in the
current BSA catalog. I got the idea and the mold after the 97-98 George
Washington PowWow had ready-to-paint slides prepared for every participant.
Figuring that if they had hundreds plaster slides prepared, they can't be
too hard, too time consuming or too expensive.

But......when I mix plaster-of-paris thin enough to flow into all the tiny
details of the mold...it takes forever to dry (nearly 4 days before I could
release it). If I mix it too thick it sets before I can get the pipe
cleaners in and the detail isn't as good and the pipe cleaners aren't as
secure...The heads are quite deep - the Bear is nearly 3/4 " - 1" thick and
is about 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 inch square. So figuring 4 days a slide to dry, I
can't get enough done in anywhere near the time I have before I need
them...What thickness seems to work best? pancake batter, pea soup,
pudding....?? I called the company that makes the plaster, they were kind,
but not overly helpful as they said that the only thing that they could
suggest would be trial and error (too many variables, product not actually
designed for molding use...). I've trialed and errored (mostly errored)
until I'm frustrated and nearly out of plaster-of-paris.

I've tried femo. Even after spraying with a no stick spray, it was tough
getting them out of the mold and the detail was less than I had hoped. I
tried an air-dry clay. Easier to get out of the mold than the femo, but it
had to dry overnight and it is too heavy for slide use. And both are too
expensive.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to use the molds to better
advantage? Experience with molding plaster-of-paris? What is the best way to
seal them so the plaster won't dust off onto the shirt or neckerchief? What
paints work best? HELP!!?

Bernadette Curry
Committee Chairman
Pack 995, Springfield VA
Old Dominion District
National Capital Area Council

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