This project began when I found a halloween basket of Darth Vader on sale after Halloween – $2.50.  I’ve been looking for project to learn/practice/experiment with silicone molds, so I chopped up the mask to make a two part mold.

I wanted the cavity to remain hollow so it could serve as a planter, so I built a box out of foam core and hot glue and placed the mask face up.  I placed one edge of the foam core right up against the top of the mask to block out the cavity – lots of hot glue on the underside to keep the silicone out.

Despite having watched a variety of videos on youtube, i tried a different process to make the two piece mold in two separate boxes.  Big mistake!

The mold had great detail, but the two pieces didnt match up.  I tried to patch and fill, and it probably can be done, but i was in a rush to get on a plane and try to cast one of these for x-mas.  The result was some unevenness in the bottom, and spalling out of the sides which could be cleaned up better.

 

I also didn’t pour it up high enough to the top, in part because my solution for the cavity was a failure due to lack of proper materials and time.  The details came out pretty well despite taking it out too soon.

I also experimented with some concrete coloring agent and made this death star paper weight.  I prepared too much material so I poured a bit of Darth’s mask to see how the color would be.

Its hard to see the color in the death star due to the lighting, but the mask shows the much darker charcoal color than the planter.   I think with some added colorant, it would be a nice deep black.

 

 

The mold required ALOT of material.  The stock we had at AMT was expired and hard when I opened the bottle, and it ended up taking 3.5 bottles, so essentially $100.

It was like taking a class for $100, which I’d have paid anyway, and I’ve got a half decent mold that can be used.  Im not sure how I would try making it again so that the molds could better align due to the cavity I want to keep.  If it were a solid head, you could build the box and just pour the material over the entire bust, and maybe that will still work if I figure out a way to cover the cavity.

Sorry for the sideways pics, I couldn’t rotate them for some reason.