First, a life-cast is created around the subject with alginate. Plaster is poured into the negative and the alginate must be removed.
If breakage occurs during extraction, the pieces are reattached with metal reinforcements.
Detail is sometimes lost when life-casting due to movement of the subject, seam lines created from bald caps, etc. These details must be sculpted back in and refined before making the second mold.
Several layers of silicone are painted onto the finished sculptures so that a reusable mold can be created.
Now, identical replicas can be cast from the silicone molds.
