Ouch. My heart broke when the hands did. This is one of my less mentioned fears about doing casting. While I will talk about the one of a kind aspect of sculpting... this is always at the back of my head.

I'm watching this video while experiencing my own silicone mould woes, so this honestly actually really heartened me, to see that even someone as great at crafts as you can struggle and fail too (not that i want to see you fail, but, y'know.) I've been binging your channel all week and getting so inspired, thank you for your resources, your amazing tutorials and patterns, sharing your dolls/characters with us, and just being an all around joy to listen to!

You probably know this by now, but I wanted to share a tip I learned from another person on youtube that makes a lot of two part silicone molds. He mixes mineral oil with petroleum jelly to thin it, so it doesn't leave brush strokes. It's not quite as thin as water, but it's thin enough when he brushes it on it just kind of evens itself out. Hope this helps. I'm new to your channel and loving it, even though I have zero BJD dolls, or know anything about them.. heh

I'm so excited to see the casting videos 😩💖💖💖

I'm new here, nice to meet you. Your moulds are great, I'm glad you showed this video not everything turns out, the struggle is real. You could use those hands for a cool Halloween or marionette doll. Have a creative, inspired weekend xoxoxo

I use Mann's EaseRelease 200 on platinum silicone molds. If you put too much mold release of any kind on without letting it set, it will just mix with the silicone when you pour it on and won't keep the halves apart. I use 2 or 3 thin coats allowing it to set in between coats.

I am just absolutely in love with your channel! My heart was breaking for years because I just don't have the money for classes from any video I ever clicked on. I don't even have the money fir asking supplies haha. So really really appreciate you sharing your personal process! I honestly am crying a little bit 🤣 thank you.

I could feel your pain as you took out your first casting. Nice of you to share so I don't have to do the same thing. Probably not worth mentioning, but maybe if you started cutting the silicone on the finger side it might have worked better pulling the wrist part last. Just a thought. I have some doll shoes I want to cast. Looking at your video gives me a better idea of what to expect. Thanks for sharing...

That was stressful to watch, but also very helpful. thanks for showing us your hard work!

In the future, for something as simple as this, there is a putty mold method. Mix two parts together, push the part into it, it cures in minutes. Spray mold release, do the same to the second part. Simple.

😭💔You worked soooo hard, hope casting goes better! I think you are really inspiring!

I didnt expect the hands to break!! They were so cute and little, and only to break because of the silicone was really sad! I cant wait for the casting video next week..

Gave me literal shivers. i guess its a bonus that the moulds look good, but that must have sucked ass. Lets just cross everything crossable and pray that the moulds work.

If you tap them the bubbles get out quite good

Can you make a cast in silicone for porcelain dolls too, or is there another method for those dolls? Of course finer details would be sharpened up by hand etc. in that case. I'm e noob in doll making, but I'm wanting to get into it properly.

If you need some advice on casting just answer this message, I was in an art school and in sculpture class the teach you how to make this kind of molds in a very easy way... I love your work and I hope this could help in your amazing skilled art

Aw man! What a bummer!! D: Maybe you'll have better mold release when you try again, but if not, maybe you could put petroleum jelly just on the silicone parts, since that's the main release you need, and it doesn't matter if you get brush strokes. But I've never made a mold before so idk. Just a theory

Sorry about your cast. I know how it feels. I coated the inside of my masters with petrolium jelly so the silicone forms the parts that should be hollowed. I saw a video where another artist did that. Unfortunately the silicone got stuck in the doll part a a i need to cut the part open to get the rubber out. 😞 anywho I saw you used straws, did you coat them with anything or just you clay on the ends to seal. Hope you can help me out, thanks so much.

Oof this is rough 🥺 even before you said anything, when you were wiggling the hands out of the mold I was like "Plleeaasssee don't break". 😭 I hope the casts turn out good, because the thought of you needing to resculpt those hands is giving secondhand anger 😬😬 It's also super bizarre your mold release didn't work. I wonder if the silicone was incompatible with that particular type for some reason. I've only used mold release once and it worked perfectly (for casts I didn't end up needing, rip) GOOD LUCK FOR THE CASTS. I BELIEVE IN YOU, AND I WILL PRAY TO THE CASTING GODS ON YOUR BEHALF! 🙏🏼🙏🏼

Hi Lomi Curious what the spray release agent was? I.m about ready to go down this silicone to silicone mould adventure for a BJD doll head I sculpted and need to know if the stuff alumilite recmd is not going to work Thanks

Unlucky with the breakage upon removal :( Ive done a little bit of mold making/casting in other hobbies so with my small amount of experience id humbly suggest you build up the mold halves to carefully place the parting line about halfway up what you are molding as well as adding mold registration so you are sure to get the halves together easily and without any shifting. Punished Props Academy have a couple of great 10 minuteish vids on the process of essentially sculpting how the mold should split. This would also allow for placing very fine air channels from the nails (i saw the casts came out semi workable in the later vid) so as to avoid bubbles there when casting. If the mold release you used was silicone based itself then that is likely why it didnt work, it was just absorbed by the rest of the silicone, when i had a batch of silicone that had gone past its use by date and started to thicken i sprayed a bunch of silicone spray into it which thinned it down enough to be usable still, worked as expected after mixing in the hardener. As for a sprayable mold release, cooking spray as well as a spray varnish are alternatives ive seen others use but havnt tried it myself. Ive stuck to petroleum jelly. You can use a bit of alcohol to carefully brush away any stray that got onto the master. That use of the straws to make channels was really clever, not sure when i will need it but its going in the box of tricks :)

Lomi , could you maybe warm the petroleum jelly first so you wouldn't get the brush marks?? It is incredible that that mold release didn't work. It was like you didn't even put any on it. I hope that they work for you anyway.

Would this work for making replacement monster high hands?

My heart broke when I saw the broken hands. I hope the molds work out for you!!! Funny thing, I have megablocks that I was gonna donate but if you want them to make molds with in the future, I am willing to send them to you free of charge!!

* surprised pikachu face * Oh nooooo!

Oh no😭