This week, we learnt how to make silicon moulds in class. The mould is based on either a small object we already have or a small object we 3D print. For this class, I decided to make my mould based on a small bell (similar to the bells below)

Materials:
Pourable silicone (250 ml)
Silica gel for curing (5 ml)
Hot glue
Equipment:
Plastic bottle that’s cut to the size/height of the bell
Flat board/surface to mount the plastic bottle and the bell
Pipette
A chopstick to stir/mix the material
Steps:

I first glued the plastic bottle I’ve cut to the flat surface with hot glue and then glued the bell (hint: I should’ve glued the bell to the board first). I glued the bell upside down because that way, I also create that space within the half-sphere of the bell.

And then I prepared the mix for the mould. The mix consists of 250 ml of pourable silicone and 5 ml of silica gel. This mix was also shared for Mary Kate’s mould. Afterwards, the mix was stirred well.

We then poured the mix onto the container where the object-to-be-made-into-mould is mounted at. For my mould, we were to fill in the sides of the container first instead of pouring it right on top of the bell. This is done so that the sides of the bell are supported by the silicone mix.

Aaaand, that was it! We were then to wait for the mould to harden/cure. The process should take about 24 hours.
One mistake that we realised (right after we poured the silicone) was that we didn’t leave a hole to pour the cast through. However, we figured that we could cut the mould into two parts and either 1) cut a hole for the cast or 2) make two halves of the model and then connect them with adhesives afterwards.