Hi everyone,

I am new to the statuary craft. My uncle is a professional crafter and I really like the work he did. He is in Ca, I just moved to Az so I cant really benefit from his experience. I want to get started, but I need some information about how to get molds, particularly religous statues I am most interested. I am new to the whole process, any tips or information would help, thanks!

Hi Admyr, welcome. First we would like to find out a little more about what you would like to do with the craft.

Do you want to get molds because you want to make a large quantity of religious statues? If you just want to paint your own statues then you don't need molds, you can buy these statues pre-made from a good store such as Statuary Place, or someplace close to you in Arizona. Or you can mail order them from Statuary Place.

If you want to pour your own molds, then this requires more materials and learning some new skills. Do you want to create plaster or ceramic statues? Plaster statues are easier to make but break easier. Ceramic statues can have fine detail and are tougher, but you have to use a high-temperature kiln to "fire" the ceramic to make it solid. So ceramic is more complicated than plastercraft.

Thank you for responding,

I guess since I am just starting I should begin with painting pre-made statues. I live in Mesa, AZ. I would like to buy close to my area, but have not found suppliers. I maybe visiting CA soon , so I will try to make a stop by statuary place shop. I used to live just outside L.A.

One more question...

My uncle used to use laquer paint, but I have allergies and I think I would like to use something else. Could I use acrylic paints? And can acrylic paint be used with an airbrush tool?

Admyr, acrylic paints would be perfect for plastercraft. It is certainly more common than airbrushing. The modern acrylic paints are non-toxic so you don't have to worry about breathing any vapors.

So I would recommend starting with plastercraft statues and using the standard paints. Get a variety of brushes, some for fine details and others for large areas. You can mix different paints to make colors in-between. The paints come in small jars (it flows similar to house paint).

The fun part will be painting the statue exactly how you want it.

So for this you don't really need to deal with molds.