Have you been searching for a casting paste allowing you to create negative moulds quickly and easily? This is the right material for you: “Creaform”. It’s easy to use:  simply mix with water, pour it on any desired object or model it onto it. That’s all! Your self-made mould will be ready in a few minutes and you can then cast it with “Artestone” (Art. No. 56011 – Figure Casting Paste). It couldn’t be easier! That is why you should always carry Creaform with you, e.g. in the car, because there is always an opportunity to cast an object, a figure, or any other article. It’s always at hand during a holiday, a visit to friends, on a business trip…

“Shape Up” just about anything – perfectly and quickly – with Creaform.

 
How it works:
Place the object you like to copy in a small cardboard box or casting vessel. Secure light objects made of wood, polystyrene, cardboard, etc. with doublesided tape or Mould Adhesive Wax (Art. No. 60636) to the bottom of your container so they do not rise while casting.
  
Preparation of the original
A separating agent is normally not needed when working with Creaform. Dip your casting model into water and then place it in your mould container. If this is not possible, e.g., a relief hanging from a wall, simply wet down the casting surface with water. On objects made from wood, paster or other material apply before a coat of water soluble varnish, that can be thinned up to 10% with water. Once the varnish is dry, apply Wax Separating Cream (art.60616) on the object. This is quite important for highly absorbing and porous surfaces. Thus, they will be sealed and will not absorb the moist casting paste. Otherwise, the object would bond with Creaform when it is applied, so you would not get a useful negative mould. All other originals and in particular glazed or smooth parts made of porcelain, ceramics, synthetics, metal, or painted and varnished surfaces only need to be moisted with water and do not require additional separating agents because Creaform separates by itself from these surfaces. This should also be kept in mind if two- or multi-part moulds are created. Creaform can be poured onto a finished mould but will not bond with it.
 
How to mix Creaform
Use the mixing cup in which the material is supplied. Measure Creaform precisely with a kitchen or parcel scale. For example fill the mixing cup with 300 ml/gr of water and add 100 gr of Creaform so as to obtain 400 gr of casting paste. Mix both materials intensely (for approx. 60 seconds), until you obtain a homogenous, thin liquid pulp. You can as well use a mixer. Take care not to include too many air bubbles.

Important:
calculate before how much of the material you will need. For reproducing an adult’s hand you will need approx. 460 – 600 ml/gr of water and 150 – 200 gr of Creaform. For a children’s hand approx. 300 – 390 ml/gr of water and 100 – 130 gr of Creaform are sufficient. For a baby’s hand, you will need 180 – 240 ml/ gr of water and 60 to 80 gr of Creaform. The supplied box is suited for a medium sized hand. Please check before starting to work, if the hand you like to form, will fit in the container. If the box is too small, use another one. If it is too large, what would mean an excess of material consumption, take a smaller one. In order to know the required quantity of material fill the box with water and place the hand in it. Then you will see how much the water is higher than the hand, which equals the total amount of the required quantity. Possibly, you will need to add some more water. Then take your hand off the box and fill the water in a beaker in order to read the required amount of water.

Alternatively:
place any choosen receptacle on the scale and adjust the scale to “zero”, so that you will see the net wheight once you have poured the water in it. Divide the total quantity of water by 4, so as to obtain the value of one part.
 
Example:
you find out that the total amount of water needed is 760 gr, divided by 4 = 190. You will need for your mix 190 gr of Creaform and 570 ml/ gr of water. If using receptacles made from cardboard, make sure to cover the inside with a plastic foil in order to keep the Creaform paste from sticking to the inside walls. Other receptacles made from synthetics, glass, metal, ceramics or porcelain do not need to be pretreated or covered with a plastic foil.
 
Mixing ratio:
3 parts of water and 1 part of Creaform – by weight

Important:
as the casting paste reacts and cures very quickly, you need to mix it rapidly. This comprises the dipping of the object in the paste and the preparation of the model. Creaform cures within 6 – 8 minutes. Use cold water. Warm water would even make it cure faster!
 
Reproducing the model
Pour the mixed casting paste in a thin stream directly onto the object you wish to cast and distribute it evenly with a brush. Now, pour the remaining paste onto this casting object and make sure it is completely covered with the paste. The coat must be at least 6 – 8 mm thick at the most prominent spot. 5 to 8 minutes later the mould casting paste is cured. You can remove it from the casting container immediately. In order to do so, press the sides of the container away from the mould, remove the mould and carefully remove your model. Let the finished mould post-react for approx. 5 – 10 minutes. A portion of the water contained in it will evaporate during this time. Then, the mould can be used immediately to create the 1st replica model by filling it with “Artestone” (Art. No. 56 011 – Figure Casting Paste). Artestone is a high quality, synthetic and hydrophobic figure casting paste, that once mixed with water, will take up no additional moisture. This means that it will cure firmly within 30 – 40 minutes even in the moist Creaform mould. Therefore, the finished shape should immediately be worked mechanically, e.g., flattening the edges with a knife. The shapes made with Artestone can be worked during approx. 60 – 100 minutes after demoulding. Then, they become very hard and finishing touches can hardly be made. That is why we recommend removing small air bubbles that show up as little pearls or grains immediately. The finished mould will finish drying within the next few hours. However, it can be used one hour later to be casted with Arte Carving and Picture Wax (art. 80067) or Polyester Casting Wood (Art. No. 52202). If you do not use the form immediately, store it airtight – refer to mould storage instructions. If you mix Creaform to a thick paste (mixing ratio by weight 2.5 parts of water and 1 part of Creaform) you can apply it with a putty knife or with your fingers directly on your casting model. (It is no problem to remove Creaform later from your hands). You will then not need a casting container because the casting paste is applied directly onto your object.

Body modeling
You can also make everlasting souvenirs, e.g. by casting a small child’s hand or foot. For doing so, use a suitably large mixing bowl and fill it with mould paste. Now dip the hand you wish to cast in water and then into the liquid casting paste and remove it immediately. Now make sure that the hand is completely covered with the form paste. Rub the paste off with the fingers of your other hand and let the removed material fall into the casting container. The material will leave a gel-like coat on the hand while in the casting paste, there are still little “nuggets” left, which is correct. Creaform consists of two components that react differently. At the beginning, a gel wil be forming while the paste is thickening. Two to three minutes later, the binder itself which was before still visible as those little nuggets, will dissolve. This component causes the thickening of the material, which will bond later to a spongelike form. This is only to give you more information on the material you are using. Now dip the hand into the mould paste again and leave for approx. 3- 6 minutes until the paste becomes hard. Loosen the form from the bowl’s sides with a wooden stick or the steem of a wooden spoon. Insert the wooden steem at the edges of the container until you reach the bottom. Then press the stick so that it moves a little bit on the bottom. This is important as this will remove the vacuum existing there and thus will allow you to pull out the mould (together with the hand casted in it) easily out off the receptacle. Now you can remove the hand carefully from the mould. If it is a small hand, it can be pulled off the mould directly, without damaging the mould on the edges. If casting a lager hand, the edges will need to be cut a little bit. This is done with the steem of a spoon which you will insert on the side where the back of the hand is located, so as to “cut” in the mould for 2 to 3 cm. The paste is very soft, so that this can be done easily, allowing to pull off the hand safely now. Then carefully place the form onto your working table and cut off any unevennesses from the edges with a knife. This is important as you will be able to pour in the casting paste later so that it will be approx. 1 cm higher as the edges. This creates a kind of base for the hand print, making it look fancy and effectful. For casting with the finished mould, only the ceramic casting compound “Artestone” is suitable. This is a hydrophobic, plaster-like ceramic paste, that will cure within 30 minutes solidly and stone hard. It is particularly important with this casting paste that it will cure so hard in the mould containing 66 % water, that all details of the casted hand or foot will become visible. (If using a plaster compound, the follwing would happen:
the pulp filled in the mould would cure as well. Due to the curing process the material would heat up, making a part of the contained water evaporate. But plaster is hygroscope, i.e. it is water absorbing. Therefore, the water evaporated from the plaster would be replaced by water from the mould. Thus, a flowage would appear in the mould, making the object look inaccurate. The object would show a kind of “dimpled-skin” instead of the fine, desired structures. Therefore, it is important to use the supplied casting paste.
 
Casting:
Return the mould to the container. Mix the Artestone Figure Casting Paste with water and fill it into the mould. The mixing ratio is 1 part of water and 4 parts of Artestone powder (100 gr of water and 400 gr of Artestone). Let the mix pre-react for 1 minute. During this time, the air bubbles will come to the surface. Mix again carefully before filling the paste into the mould. Fill the mould approx. 1 cm higher with the figure casting paste so it projects beyond the mould for approx. 10 to 12 mm, so as to create a kind of solid base for your shape. The container filled with casting compound is now put several times forcefully onto the working table so that any contained air bubbles between the paste and the mould walls can be removed. Approx. 30 to 40 minutes later the casting paste is cured in the mould and can be removed from the container. Then remove the mould carefully from the finshed shape. In most cases, the mould will be destroyed and cannot be re-used again.

Another tip:
if you intend to model a child’s hand, the child should not move its hand during the 3 –4 minute casting time. If you let the child hold a small ball or other object in its hand, it won’t squirm as much and the object will become part of the cast.
 
Storage of the mould:
If you were able to take off the model without damaging the mould, wrap it in damp newspaper after use. Sprinkle newspaper with water and place your mould in a plastic bag and close airtight. Store the mould at a place where it is protected from the sun light and at a temperature between 18 and 20°C. The mould will remain elastic and can be used over and over again.
 
Product substance
Creaform is composed of natural ingredients. It contains plant tissues and natural glue- and firming agents. Therefore, children can use it without reservation. There are no bad consequences if Creaform is eaten or taken into the mouth because it contains no harmful substances.

Technical data:
 
Mixing ratio: by weight: 3 parts of water
and 1 part of Creaform

Ductile yield: DIN 53 504 N 200 %
+- 10 %
60 202 500 g

Tensile strength:
DIN 53 504 N 2.0 N/ nm3
60 203 1000 g

Shore hardness:
DIN 53 505 – 25
60 205 8000 g

The starter pack contains 450 gr of Creaform and 1000 gr of Artestone. Creaform is also available in single packs of 225, 500, 1000 and 5000 gr. Artestone is available in packs with 1, 5 and 25 kg. Are you interested in additional information on casting and the form modeling technique? A reference book is available, which describes all techniques from the preparation of the model to making complicated shapes, along with descriptions and introductions to all other common casting pastes such as latex, silicone, Formaform, Creaform etc. Art. No. 05170 Make your own Forms.