This little chap had very delicate little hands & would have posed a problem to cast due to getting tiny air bubbles in the fingers. To help you avoid this I'm listing a few tricks & tips on casting baby hands. By applying a bit of logic & considering the effect gravity has on liquids you can reduce this kind of problem to a minimum. I would say however, we do not guarantee you will get a good cast of a hand from one of our baby casting kits. Rather, do your feet first & increase your confidnece & then try hands. Practice is needed!
It is also almost impossible to get a flat hand of a small baby. They automatically close their hand into a fist & this is really a more realistic lifecast of your baby's hand at a young age.
Getting the best mould
- Wet baby's hand first. This gets them used to the temperature of the water & reduces tiny air bubbles from the surface of the hand giving a better mould. It also helps release the alginate mould once it has set.
- Push the hand into the moulding mixture rather than squeezing it round. This displacement again reduces the chance of the impression mix not getting in between each finger giving you a better mould
- Make sure fingernails are short & tidy if you can. There's nothing like a scuffed up nail on your lifecast!
- Trim the top of your mould before you pour so that you can clamp your hand over the top of the mould once it is filled with casting mixture. You are going to invert the mould several times & although it will doubtless get messy you can make it less so by tidying up the edges of the mould so it is easier to hold.
- Pour in a small amount of your casting mix. Slosh it all round & then pour out again. This helps break any surface tension on the mould surface
- Refill the mould to the top & place a piece of folded kitchen roll over the opening (this helps reduce the mess which is coming...!!) .
- Clamp your hand over the kitchen roll covered opening & shake your mould in all directions. You are trying to allow any air that is currently caught in the fingers to escape into the main space of the mould & then come up to the top as bubbles. To this end you need to shake & twist the mould in every possible direction, including fully upside down, several times.
- Once you've finished this, peel away the kitchen roll & top up the mould with casting mix. Place in an upright spot until the hand cast is set. I would leave this at least for an hour or so as soft fingers will break off more easily.
- Peel your mould away in very small pieces to avoid damaging & snapping any fingers.
