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The Prop Builder's Molding & Casting Handbook
The Prop Builder's Molding & Casting Handbook This is the first book to contain, in one comprehensive volume, every molding and casting procedure of use to the theater props builder (no matter what his or her level or proficiency). The author demonstrates the techniques involved in using more than thirty different materials ranging from papier-mache to breakaway glass. While the use of some materials–plaster and polyester resins, for example–is covered to some extent in other publications, information on the selection and use of rubber materials (latex, neoprene, silicone, and the urethanes) and the procedure for making breakaway windows and bottles is available only in The Prop Builder's Molding & Casting Handbook . Written in an easy, conversational style, the book will be useful to anyone involved with theater properties, puppetry, and costuming (as professionals or amateurs). It will also serve admirably the needs of students taking classes in those subjects. Completing the book is a special section on designing and building a vacuum forming machine suitable for use in constructing theater props. More than 450 photographs illustrate the step-by-step procedures explained throughout the entire text.
236 pages, Paperback
First published November 15, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 21, 2022
It was the first book I read when I started collecting book in order to write my own book. I was very helpful on basic information on molding and casting techniques.
October 10, 2021
Posted here: https://andrewlb.com/reading/the-prop...
Something of a random vacation read. I’ve long been wanting to learn how to do vacuum form molds, and while I’ve understood the mechanics pretty well, after going through Stick and Rudder I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to absorb some wisdom from the far flung 20th century.
This tome (absorbed as a kindle book, which may or may not have been a good idea given some of the illustrations) on molding and casting goes through a wide variety of techniques and case studies surrounding the use of — you guessed it — molds and casts for the purpose of building theater props. I’m not practically interested in such things, though I’ve had some exposure to it. The people who do that work well are geniuses when it comes to bending material and time constraints into form. It’ll last just as long as it needs to, and it’ll look great doing it.
I am, however, interested in mold making. I’ve struggle a bit with a personal conflict: my interest in physical objects as a medium of expression is foiled by my day-to-day frame of reference around software where scale is … well, still a problem, but the 1-100 (or 1000) problem is a lot less with software than the 1 to 10 is with physical things. Even if I wanted to make 10 of something large on one of my 3d printer, that would occupy the 3D printer for 5-10 days.
Which of course is silly. This is a solved problem on many levels and it’s trivial to hire someone to do this type of multiplicative work for you once a prototype has emerged into a defined product, but anyway. I am interested in the power of mold making.
Reading through this book, there’s a plethora of interesting case studies, from forming a mold from a dead fish and carefully managing its decomposition relative to the heat-producing curing process of the mold material, to tips around matching two part molds and managing shrinkage, to DIYing a large vacuum press for fabricating large props — including 8ft tall banana leaves.
I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do with it, to be honest, but it’s sparked my interest and I think I’ll do something. Regardless, I had a blast reading this book. It was humerous, approachable, and — while a bit dated in its references to materials — provides both practical and theoritical guidance for engaging with three dimensional forms as things that must contend within particular constraints if they’re to exist (in any number) in the physical world.
It’s a neat book, and it’ll give you ideas.
Something of a random vacation read. I’ve long been wanting to learn how to do vacuum form molds, and while I’ve understood the mechanics pretty well, after going through Stick and Rudder I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to absorb some wisdom from the far flung 20th century.
This tome (absorbed as a kindle book, which may or may not have been a good idea given some of the illustrations) on molding and casting goes through a wide variety of techniques and case studies surrounding the use of — you guessed it — molds and casts for the purpose of building theater props. I’m not practically interested in such things, though I’ve had some exposure to it. The people who do that work well are geniuses when it comes to bending material and time constraints into form. It’ll last just as long as it needs to, and it’ll look great doing it.
I am, however, interested in mold making. I’ve struggle a bit with a personal conflict: my interest in physical objects as a medium of expression is foiled by my day-to-day frame of reference around software where scale is … well, still a problem, but the 1-100 (or 1000) problem is a lot less with software than the 1 to 10 is with physical things. Even if I wanted to make 10 of something large on one of my 3d printer, that would occupy the 3D printer for 5-10 days.
Which of course is silly. This is a solved problem on many levels and it’s trivial to hire someone to do this type of multiplicative work for you once a prototype has emerged into a defined product, but anyway. I am interested in the power of mold making.
Reading through this book, there’s a plethora of interesting case studies, from forming a mold from a dead fish and carefully managing its decomposition relative to the heat-producing curing process of the mold material, to tips around matching two part molds and managing shrinkage, to DIYing a large vacuum press for fabricating large props — including 8ft tall banana leaves.
I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do with it, to be honest, but it’s sparked my interest and I think I’ll do something. Regardless, I had a blast reading this book. It was humerous, approachable, and — while a bit dated in its references to materials — provides both practical and theoritical guidance for engaging with three dimensional forms as things that must contend within particular constraints if they’re to exist (in any number) in the physical world.
It’s a neat book, and it’ll give you ideas.
October 27, 2016
Newer methods not covered, it's almost 30 years old.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews