The silicone mold (side note, I keep mixing up silicon and silicone. Hazards of hearing "silicon valley" a lot I guess) came out great. Much better than I was expecting actually.

Despite the much taller grooves in this model versus the last one, it released much easier than I was expecting it to. It still took a lot of work to wiggle it out but I guess my molding technique got better, and I think the model release spray helped a ton with this.

It really hugged the mold and the curing process seemed to get all the way down to get the perfect height. Some of the edges seem really sturdy too.

Some of the sides didn't get full coverage despite my pouring technique (it seemed to have run off the sides a bit). In the future, I think I need to make sure I have adequate material for coverage, but if I don't have enough I should maybe try brushing on some of the goop onto the outsides to ensure that there's a thick enough layer the whole way around.

Some of the corners and outside walls were a little thin

Before the next mold, I tried to reinforce some of those walls with a bit of hot glue, with a bit of success. It peeled a bit (silicon doesn't want to stick to anything it seems), but overall I'm pleased with the way it held up. I had sprayed the mold with model release agent, not sure if that's what you're supposed to do but it seemed to work later.

I mixed the plaster and misjudged the proportions, getting a pretty soupy result at first. Following the instructions on the box, I poured some into the mold and tried to spread it to the sides, I dumped out the liquidy part, and then redid the mold, this time getting a better consistency.

After letting it cure for over an hour, I pulled the piece out of the mold pretty easily and the first thing I notifced was that the texture feels awesome. I'm definitely doing a project in this material (Hydrocal) again.

The model is a bit warped due to the unevenness of the top of the structure (curse you again, not-enough-silicone) but I actually kind of dig the look. Makes it feel a bit more organic.

Regardless, that might just wrap up as far as we can get with the miniatures. With precious weeks remaining, it's time to focus on the remaining parts of the project.

Discussing the dance performance on the floor today, Keven came up with a good idea that instead of putting the dancers on the top of the risers, we should perhaps instead house them inside and make the risers out of glass. I really dig this idea and want to return to it. It's a bit like wack-a-mole or a cage dancer in a nightclub, and could be really interesting as a visual