How to Make Molds for Cement Fish & Ducks

Bring wildlife into your garden by making your own cement fish and ducks.

Make your own cement garden decor with cement molds. Use liquid rubber which you can find in home improvement or craft stores to make your mold. These are easy to make, but do take a few days because there are two or three drying processes involved. Once the mold is made you can make many cement sculptures from it, so long as you apply release agent to the mold every time you use it and you remove the rubber mold carefully to avoid tearing.

Things You'll Need

• Duck or fish model
• Spray-on sealant
• Release agent
• Square plastic container
• Liquid rubber
• Cement release agent
• Cinch cord or bungee cord
• Cement
• Drill
• Hole saw drill bit, 1 inch
• Metal file

Instructions

1. Find a duck or fish of wood, concrete or clay sculpture that you wish to mold. Use a felt marker to draw a center line around the sculpture. This is the parting line of the mold. Have your line go over half the beak, head and body along the length of the sculpture. Use a spray sealant to seal the pores of the sculpture. Spray the sealant on and allow it to dry for a couple of hours.

2. Spray a release agent on the sculpture. Spray release agent on a large plastic storage container in which the sculpture can easily sit leaving lots of room around it. Release agents can be found in any home improvement store.

3. Mix the dry and wet ingredients for your pourable rubber in a plastic bucket. Follow the directions given on the package for exact measurements. Pour 2 inches of liquid rubber into the container and wait five to 10 minutes for the rubber to slightly gel. Place your sculpture in the center of your rubber and press into the rubber. Do not allow the sculpture to reach the bottom of the container. Pour more liquid rubber over the sculpture until you reach your drawn parting line. This will give you half a mold base. Allow this part of the mold to dry overnight.

4. Remove the rubber from the container carefully. Remove the model duck or fish from the rubber mold.

5. Spray release agent on the model and the container again. Repeat the process you performed in Step 3 for this side of the duck or fish model. Allow the rubber to set overnight.

6. Remove the rubber from the mold and from the sculpted piece. Fit this piece of the rubber mold with the first to obtain the full mold. Secure the mold together with a cinch or bungee cord fastener. You want to use a strap-like fastener that you can tighten easily.

7. Turn the duck or fish mold over so the base is facing you. Use your drill to make a 1-inch hole in the center seam.

8. Open the mold and spray concrete releasing agent into both mold halves. Fit the halves back together and cinch tightly. Mix the cement according to package instructions and pour it into the hole you made in the bottom of the mold. Swish the cement in the mold around to get rid of air bubbles. Allow the concrete to dry for 24 to 48 hours. Remove the mold and you will have concrete fish and ducks. Use a metal file to file away unwanted seams and edges on the finished statue.

References

• Techno Industrial: How to Make Cement Molds