These are instructions for air-dry FIMO or other light malleable foam product.
- Mould a face out of clay/plastercene on your plaster face mould. Use a hard type of clay or let it harden for a few hours.
- Cover the new face completely with plastic wrap. Make sure the wrap fits the clay everywhere, especially nose, eyes and wrinkles.
- Take your time with the modeling of the FIMO, it dries in 24 to 48 hours.
- With a rolling pin, roll out a handful of FIMO to a thickness of 6 to 8 mm on a flat surface. A stone rolling pin works better than a wooden one.
- Don’t use water!
- Patch flat pieces of FIMO together on the clay face cut to the proper sizes from the rolled out piece. Roll out more FIMO as needed.
- Connect the pieces by pressing edges together and rubbing out the cracks with your finger.
- You can use the FIMO like clay, apply more to model details.
- Always rub gaps/cracks to close them! For that you can use a bit of water if necessary.
- The FIMO should not be thinner then 6 to 8 mm.
- For thick parts or to change/add facial features, underly with aluminium foil or plastic wrap and cover that with FIMO. This way, you can save material. Later you can remove the foil/wrap by removing the FIMO from the inside of the mask.
- It helps to cut the nose and eyeholes while the FIMO is partly soft.
- When you’re finished, let the FIMO dry. Don’t put it on the heater!
- FIMO shrinks by 8% when drying. It is helpful to remove the mask after 8 to ten hours including the plastic wrap, otherwise the mask could break on the edges (repair with latex cement in this case).
- The mask should be hard on the outside now but handle it with care, it’s still soft on the inside.
- Put the mask face down and let it dry (you can support it from the sides if it widens itself).
- While drying you can always make corrections with FIMO.
- If the edges arch to the inside while drying, mould it back out.
- You can strengthen the mask with latex cement from the inside.
- After drying you can use sand paper to smooth it as you want.
Excess FIMO can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge. It is even possible to re-hydrate hardened FIMO.
It is also possible to use a negative mould and press in FIMO from the inside. (see gallery photo)