Skull Charm Prototype...

One of my most popular designs that I ever made was a tiny skull charm.  I thought that I would redesign it and give it a facelift.  (Pun intended!)  In this incarnation, the relief carving is a little higher, which makes the skull a bit more dimensional.  I carved the mold for this the other night and plan on making tiny bronze charms and maybe porcelain beads.

Whenever I carve a new mold (in the reverse), I press a piece of polymer clay in the (cured) mold to see how it'll look.  Sometimes things don't always look right when they are flipped and it's important to test it out before it goes into production.  Even though the mold is cured, it doesn't mean that one can't make changes.  If something is too shallow, it can be carved out or drilled away with a Dremel tool.  If an area is too deep, it can be filled in.  It's also a good time to see if there are any undercuts in the mold.  An undercut is basically a lip that can potentially rip and tear the material being pressed into the mold when it is being pulled free.  This can be fixed by beveling the edges with a rounded tool.  I also inspect the prototype to see if there are any indentations caused by stray burs that were left behind during the carving.  This can be remedied easily with a little bit of fine-grit sandpaper.

I'm quite pleased with the new (re)design and will hopefully be able to find some time put this bad boy to use!