The Bottom Line
This two part full body press mold for a fairy (Tinkerbelle) is an excellent way to learn to use molds to produce polymer clay dolls. Patricia Rose Studios produce wonderful art dolls and fairies, but also produce a range of products designed to help beginners learn to make dolls with polymer clay. A number of these molds are in the correct size for dolls house dolls, fairies or babies. The body proportions are excellent, and the detail is very good, well designed but simple to encourage you to create figures in your own style.
Pros
- Mold is made of durable hard wearing Hydrastone
- Detail in the molds is excellent
- Easy to use with softer polymer clays
- Can be used for parts as well as full doll so you can change faces
- CD instruction sets on using the mold or making dolls also available
Cons
- Well made molds are not inexpensive
Description
- Durable, hard plaster Hydrastone molds for repeated use.
- Good doll proportions and nice detailing of face, and main body lines.
- Easy to use press molds, well registered for easy line up when filled with softer polymer clay.
- Recommended for use with ProSculpt Polymer Clay which is soft and elastic.
- Variety of systems for purchasing these molds, from an ebay store, or the online studio, in sets or alone.
- Excellent instructional cd's and online information available if you feel you want assistance.
Guide Review - Review of Doll Press Mold for Polymer Clay Dolls by Patricia Rose Studio
Press molds are a simple way to begin making polymer clay dolls. Unfortunately, molds for porcelain dolls cannot be used as porcelain and other clays shrink when they are kiln fired.
Patricia Rose Studio produce a range of press molds for full dolls and various doll parts made from polymer clay. The molds range in size, several are suitable for 1:12 scale miniatures. The dolls all have an light, elegant style, and the molds are designed to be used by beginners.
To accompany the press molds there are also a range of instructional CD's at various levels to help you learn the craft of doll making. Sample pages from the instructional CD's are available on the web site so that you can decide if this form of instruction is for you.
I purchased the Tinkerbelle fairy mold after deciding this would be a good basic mold to work with for a young teenage girl. Teenagers are often hard to find in 1:12 scale. The proportions on the figure are excellent, and despite being listed as a fairy figure, the mold has no features which would cause you to think fairy rather than person when you see it. The mold comes with a sample armature, to enable you to produce extra armature for the dolls you produce. Dolls made in press molds are usually made with softer versions of polymer clay. Patricia Rose recommends ProSculpt for these molds. Wire armatures make the dolls easier to handle as you finish them and also give some strength to smaller parts as you pose the dolls.
The fingers and feet are molded, but fingers are not separated or fully finished so you will need to do some work or these sections of the figure after you remove it from the mold. For anyone who is worried about achieving the correct proportions for hands, arms, legs, feet, torsos or heads, these molds are a way to work on your doll skills while you develop an eye for correct proportions.
