As you know, the main purpose of gypsum is to use it as a material for construction and repair work. However, gypsum can be used for other purposes as well - in particular, for the manufacture of all kinds of figurines, fridge magnets and exclusive interior details.
The process of creating a gypsum figurine is filling with a solution of gypsum and water of any shape. In order to feel like a sculptor, you need to have in stock: actually gypsum, water, a mold, brushes and a set of acrylic paints.
Solution and form
Ideal solution for making plaster figurines or any other product: seven parts dry gypsum and ten parts water. You should know that this solution does not remain fluid for long - only 2-3 minutes, therefore, the desired form for pouring should be prepared in a timely manner.
The plaster solution must be stirred very thoroughly to completely remove all the lumps in it. The optimal consistency of the solution should resemble sour cream.
A pouring mold can be purchased from a specialist store. If it is problematic to find such a store in your city, then for the manufacture of plaster figures it is quite possible to use a silicone baking dish; children's containers for the construction of sand pods are also suitable. You can make a mold for making a beautiful figurine yourself by cutting off the bottom of some plastic or rubber toy. To prevent the plaster from sticking, the mold should be greased with sunflower oil.
After pouring the mortar into a suitable form, it must be leveled with a knife or a small construction trowel. If the task is to make a fridge magnet, then the magnet plate should be pressed into the gypsum only after it has partially dried - after fifteen to twenty minutes. When making a New Year's decoration, it is important not to forget to insert a fishing line or wire into the partially dried solution to attach it to the Christmas tree. Remove the craft from the mold after the gypsum has completely dried, which is usually observed within an hour after pouring the solution.
Additional processing of plaster crafts
After the plaster solution has completely solidified, the figure can be given any shape. This material is very easy to process with special sculptural knives, but before proceeding with the improvement of the figure, the knives should be sharpened well.
The plaster figure can be painted in any color with acrylics using a sponge or brush. When buying paint, you need to make sure that there is an inscription "for porous surfaces" on the packaging, since it is this paint that ideally fits on the gypsum base.
