Has anyone had any experience at making plaster cast masks? I'm getting
the 'making' them part almost down to a fine art - now I'm wondering if
anyone has any suggestions on what to use/do to smooth them off before
painting and decorating them.

I've never used any sort of similar substances - the plaster cast
material is about the extent of my knowledge of 'modelling' materials.
I've tried sanding and I've tried painting on a thick layer of white
glue - any other suggestions would be very welcome.

Thanks.

Carol

If you want to smooth it out, I would use modelling paste. Put it on with a brush, but use your fingers to make sure it gets pushed into all of the crevices, then smooth it with the brush again. When it is dry, you can sand it if you want. You can then paint it with acrylic paints. If you want to adhere things like gems, feathers etc, you can use the paint as an adhesive. When you are done, I would finish it off with a couple coats of an acrylic medium, in either gloss or matte, like Mod Podge of Liquitex gloss medium and varnish.

Naomi in San Francisco

PS There are simple directions on our web page about this process, complete with a few pictures.

http://www.mendels.com/mask.html

Making plaster masks is fun and easy. If you search around the net you may find a few HOW TO sites.
I founds a cheap site to get the bandages:
http://orthotape.com/caraflex_plaster_of_paris_bandages_casting.asp