Goa'uld Hand Device: Day Two

Previously on Raven Mad Cosplay: We began the epic tale of how I failed to properly cast my hand, looked at some interesting pictures of a mould and learned that alginate smells like choc-mint pudding.

And now, the conclusion.

Cast before removing the alginate. I had such high hopes for this one.

That lovely thing that kinda looks like a panna-cotta is in fact the cast still inside the alginate mould. The alginate is not reusable, so there's no need to be precious about removing it. It's strangely satisfying, like how I imagine an archaeologist feels while they're uncovering a fossil. Except that dirt doesn't smell like pudding and I'm sure they don't use serrated bread knives. I found cutting carefully around the edges to be an effective method of dealing with the greater part of the alginate. Just be a little more delicate when you get close the centre, or you'll break your fingers off. (The statue fingers, not your actual fingers, unless you're really clumsy, in which case you probably shouldn't be using a knife.)

Removing the alginate.

Now, here's where I stop procrastinating and finally tell you about my failure. If you watched the tutorial I linked in my previous post, you'll remember he mentioned that plaster can in fact BURN YOU if you submerge your hand (or other appendages) and let it set. I may have neglected to mention this to my partner until we were pouring the mixture into the mould. Long story short (I know, it's taken me two posts to get here), he freaked out and started pouring far too quickly. Although we tried to ensure the mixture ended up inside the mould, there were obviously too many trapped air pockets, and the result was very disappointing.

As you can see, the alginate creates an incredibly detailed mould. Unfortunately, we were a little heavy handed with the plaster.

After the initial disappointment wore off, I decided to take a trip to Barnes and have a look at their casting supplies. I ended up buying a similar chromatic alginate, but I also had a look at some of the other supplies I'm going to need for this project. It was like being a kid in a candy store. Cosplay can be a very expensive hobby, depending on how much effort you're willing to go to. I don't do things half-arsed, and sometimes that means I have to spend a bit more money to learn better techniques. At the end of the day, it comes down to the individual.

While I was there, I couldn't resist picking up the moulds and resin for the gems to go in my glove and bodice. I've done a test batch, but they're taking far too long to set. I'm going to give it twenty-four hours and then remove them from the mould. I'll post my results here tomorrow. I'll also release the second cast of my hand from its alginate prison. With any luck, it's completely reformed.