Life Casting Starter Kit With Alja-Safe Alginate

I have never done an art project of this sort before but I thought it would be a cool thing to do with my son. I watched the dvd that came with it which really helped. Also if you look up Smooth-On's website they have a bunch of other videos and demos for other products. I first made a test mold of my finger so I understood the process (recommended) and then made a mold of my sons hand. He thought it was really cool. It was enough alginate for the finger and the hand but that's about it. There was more than enough plaster. I would recommend this for anyone. Great product.

Sister liked it

Easy to use, and easy clean up! Will definitely buy again, probably in a larger size. I bought 2 kits to experiment with. I was hoping to "hand cast" my little boy, and wound up having to use it myself first in order to incite his interest. I squeezed a little too hard while removing my (large) hand and then got too excited removing the cast of my sons! My casting was amazing in detail and only a couple of the fingertips were messed up. My son's would have been perfect - except I broke all the fingers off - after I had revealed enough to show how perfect his little thumb turned out! My son has already jumped on board and listed the relatives who need a casting of his hands. We'll try a few more times! Awesome product, and we didn't even watch the video for what are probably very helpful directions (no dvd player).

I managed to get two fidgety kids, 4 and 7, to keep their hands still long enough to make a perfect mold, so I'd say pretty much anyone can get a good result. You do have to act fast with the mixing of the mold material, because it starts hardening immediately, but the instructions make that very clear. Just get everything set up before you mix and be ready to act fast!

I bought 2 of these to make one hand of my partner and one hand of mine. Since we are in a long distance relationship we had only one chance. The first try was a total failure, it cured way too fast, the instructions were not clear on saying it worked better by adding the alginate to the water instead of water to the alginate and mix as fast as you coul, specially if you don't have an electric mixer. I watched a video on youtube and tried on the second one, it still cured way too quickly, even with cold water, so my pose was rushed and we couldn't get all the bubbles out. As a result, the hand looks like it has warts. Removing the alginate need to be done carefully so you don't break the piece inside. Since the firstone was ruined, we could only make one hand, both our hands didn't fit inside the pail. I recommned you watch a youtube tutorial before using it.

We had to make to pre/pretend molds before we got it right. It dries fast, but not too fast, so we were able to mold well! We used it to mold some sensitive areas... and we're able to make about 4. Two were kind of practices, but it does work well once you're used to it! Very simple to figure out and worth it for great creations!!

Waste of $$$ Purchased to cast paw of my 12 yr old dog who was dying and my hand. I called the 800# for customer support included in the package. A technician told me I could coat my dogs paw between her pads and any hair on her foot and up her legs in Vaseline before inserting it in the alginate gel. I trimmed all the hair out between the pads of her feet and around her toes before even attempting the Vaseline. It didn't work I ended up with no usable mold when we were done to pour the plaster into. When the gel set my hand and her paw were thoroughly stuck in it and it took a lot of movement to try and even remove us. My dog was sent to Heaven via the vet later that day. I have no statue for a remembrance of her as I had planned . I will never buy this product again and don't recommend it for anyone.

Easy to use, detailed directions. I followed the advice in the instructions to do a small thumb impression first, to get an idea for it and avoid bigger mistakes. That was very helpful. I tried to get all the air bubbles out and fill the mold completely, but several fingers needed to be touched up. Also, kid's fingers are VERY delicate. I broke a couple getting them out, but gorilla glue worked great to fix them. I also used spackle to fill air holes and finish fingers. I followed the advice of another reviewer and put a bolt in the wet cement so I could mount it. Worked great!

Loved the product. Made a great replica of my dearly departed pup's paw. Only reason i docked a star on ease of use is because the bags of powder dont really tell you how much product you have for water measurement so I had to measure each bag individually cup by cup to ensure proper mixing. When putting a dogs paw inside you definitely need one person on the bucket with the mold gel inside and another on the dog holding it still. Takes about 8 minutes to set so good help is key. Plaster set pretty quick and the mold cut away easily to expose the cast. A little bit of sanding for flash lines and it was perfect. Do not cut away the mold before 3 hours time setting. BE PATIENT! The paw came out wonderfully and even has a bit of her fur embedded inside. Would 100% recommend the product to anyone wanting to memorialize their pet without paying the exorbitant prices of the vet paw print.

El material me llegó bien envasado, pero al trabajarlo no és como lo exponen, los tiempos no son los correctos ya que se endurece mucho más rápido que expressa en el texto informativo.

We held a toddler in place, put her foot in a bucket for 5 mins and somehow it came out absolutely perfect. i was shocked how well it worked. still have the mold 2 years later, 100% intact.

Un timo. Compré dos, seguí las instrucciones y no salió ninguno de los dos. La primera mezcla se enfriaba en seguida, ni siquiera daba tiempo de pasarla de un recipiente al otro como ponía en las instrucciones. Debería indicar si hay que hacerlo más rápido o no, aunque yo terminé de mezclar y mientras la pasaba al otro recipiente, ya se había enfriado. Aparte de que las instrucciones sólo vienen en inglés

You need a mixing implement, such as a mixing hook on a hand mixer, to blend this smoothly. Be aware that this casting gel dries extremely quickly, so you need to have everything ready before and move fast. Do NOT overmix, it will start to harden on the bottom of the container before the stuff on the top does. The measurements could be clearer, as it says only says X part casting powder to X part water. It would be much better to describe it in cups, mls, etc.