Lawn and landscaping decorations can be fairly expensive, even those intended for once-a-year holiday use, such as nativity sets and Halloween props. Rather than pay the exorbitant prices you find at stores, you can make your own such decorations at home through the process of fiberglass casting. Fiberglass, a toxic material, is often used in making props for stage, but can be applied to lawn objects of any size.
Instructions
Molding
1. Create a clay sculpture of the lawn decoration you would like to cast in fiberglass. You can use any type of clay to make the sculpture, although if you would like your sculpture to remain undamaged after the process, you should sculpt your lawn decoration out of Sculpey clay and bake it in the oven.
2. Coat your sculpture with a mold release agent. If you sculpted in soft clay like plasticine and did not bake the clay, instead spray the sculpture with a clear sealer like Krylon Crystal Clear. When the sealer or mold release dries, find the midline of the sculpture and build up a thin wall of modeling clay along the line, so that you have two equal halves of the sculpture.
3. Make a small batch of plaster by mixing gypsum and water together until you have a thick, soupy consistency. On one side of the sculpture, paint an impression coat of plaster all the way to the modeling clay wall. Let the impression coat cure for 6 hours, then mix up another batch of plaster, and paint a second coat. While the second coat is still wet, layer strips of burlap on top of it so that the burlap soaks up the mixture.
4. Let this second coat stand until it is dry, and then add another layer of plaster and burlap on top of it. Continue adding layers until you have a mold thick enough for the size of your object. The larger the object, the thicker the mold needs to be. When that side of the mold is dry, repeat the process on the other side.
5. Pull the mold off of your clay sculpture, separating the halves at the modeling clay wall. Clean the inside of the mold, then coat the inside with paint, and let the paint dry. Over the paint, coat the inside of the mold with polyvinyl alcohol.
Casting
6. Mix together a small amount of laminating resin with the catalyst, following the instructions that came with your product. On the inside of both mold halves, paint an impression coat of the laminating resin mixture. Let the resin set completely.
7. Lay small strips of fiberglass cloth into each mold half, and then paint laminating resin over the cloth. Continue applying layers of fiberglass and laminating resin into the mold halves, just like you did with the burlap and plaster. When you have the thickness you want, let the fiberglass cure for a few hours, until it is firm but flexible.
8. Pull the fiberglass casting out of the mold halves to break the seal, then put the casting back into the mold and let it cure completely.
9. Pull the casting out of the mold halves again, then cut away the excess fiberglass. Line up the casting halves of your lawn decoration and fit them together with a few pieces of masking tape. Seal up the seam with a small amount of resin and fiberglass, removing the masking tape as you go. Let the seam cure completely.
10. File and sand the fiberglass casting, particularly the seam. Paint the fiberglass lawn decoration as desired.
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