Kicks Korner installment #11 by Blair Elliott


I’ve been asked on a couple of occasions about surfaces to practice hard surface airbrushing on. There are always sign blanks, but most people want that curved surface that makes for more of a challenge when masking and spray- ing. Other suggestions that came to mind were mailboxes, trashcans, bowling pins,... and the rather expensive fibre- glass tank blanks. Making these blanks yourself is possible but can be a little tricky if you have no experience working with fibreglass. Sooooooo,... thinking back to one Christ- mas when I was a kid, and the art kit that I received for making things out of plaster of paris,... I figured, hey, why


not give it a shot. Here’s a short how-to on what I used,... what I did,... and how it turned out. You can be the judge of whether or not you want to give it a try. Basically the only things that you need to buy are “Latex Mould Maker”, about $12 at your local art supply store,... and a bag of plaster of paris, about $13 for 10 kilo bag from Home Depot. Other things that you’ll need are,... dispos- able gloves, coveralls if your smart, masking tape, card- board box, sheet of plastic sign board, can of foam insula- tor, a bucket and a power mixer is very handy but not really a necessity.


The first step is to prop the tank that you want to take your mould from up on its side and stabilize it so that it doesn’t tip over. Now take the plastic sign board, cut out the shape of the tank, and slip it over the side of the tank down to the depth where you want your blank to be. I then ran a strip of masking tape around the edge just to give me a nice neat edge, and to hold the sign board in place. Now take a disposable foam brush and apply a thin coat of the latex mould maker over the whole area taking it about and inch or so beyond to create a lip for the mould. The latex goes on looking milky, but turns clear as it dries,... you must wait until it’s dry to add another coat, and the more coats the better. The thicker the latex is, the stronger and longer lasting the mould will be. Basically just follow the directions on the can. After the latex has dried, take a shallow card board box and place it over the mould, taping it down to the sign board to hold it in place.


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