It can happen. A life cast may miss a finger, it may break off or even turn out flattened on occasion. Unless the casting is really messed up, it is possible to repair the anomalies with some deft tricks.

Life casting is a wonderful means of reproducing the human body in all its glory. Artists can create a three-dimensional likeness of the entire body or just the part that is desired. People usually prefer a life cast of their face or torso. Life casts of hands are also very popular – ranging from a single hand holding a treasured item to couples or families clasping/intertwining their fingers to even the tiny hands of newborn babies. These are usually mounted and finished with a brass name plate to preserve the memories for posterity.

Now, fingers are thin and delicate when compared to the rest of the body. They are more likely to create problems during the body mold making or life casting processes. Following are some easy ploys to counteract the errors:

• If the fault in the fingers is merely because the plaster was unable to reach into the crevices of the mold (especially common in infant casting), backfilling the cast with plaster can do the trick. Pour the plaster into the mold to cover the fingers and then twirl it around. Tilt the mold and keep rotating it around while pouring out the plaster again. Repeat this process a few times to build up a layer of the casting material in the otherwise hard-to-reach folds and niches in the mold before making the casting as usual.
• In case a finger breaks off after the casting is done – can be due to demolding too quickly before the plaster has set, applying too much pressure when demolding or pulling off the alginate mold in a hasty manner – it can be fixed easily by using the same plaster as glue. Mix a little bit of plaster, wet both the surfaces well and apply a bit of plaster on them before repositioning the finger as desired. The finger will have to be held in place or propped up for some time before it sets properly.
• If the body mold is still in a usable condition, the mold of the broken finger can still be cast again before attaching the digit on the life cast using some plaster as above.
• Plaster can also be used to correct any chips or distortions in the fingers. Experienced artists can even build up missing parts of the fingers and carve them into shape by applying plaster with a deft hand.
• Slight flattening of the fingertips can also be built up with plaster. If the effect is too deep, it will require redoing the mold.

EnvironMolds is the go-to place for top quality materials for making life casts. They also provide customized name plates engraved apart from detailed instruction materials and personal assistance for making molds, casts and life casts.