Plaster Moulding Project Update

It has been a few weeks since I posted anything about my ongoing moulding project, but it is wrapping up nicely. This week I will be tackling a new aspect of the project which is to paint faux marble in the lower panels in all the rooms where I have been working. In the picture below you can see the sample I prepared for the clients. They were extremely pleased with the results. A future blog will feature this process.

Small vestibule off of the main passageway

In my last post on this project, most of the moulding was finished, except for the large archway. I had cast two sections of it on a table and then attached them to the wall, but then still had to make the tight radius ends, which I did on-site. I decided to do the entire other side this way instead of forming pieces on the table and transferring them. The results turned out well. Thomas took pictures with his phone, so sorry for the poor resolution. Looking at all the pictures, it is odd to see that there are none showing the actual process of shaping the moulding with the form. It looks like some sort of conspiracy to guard against the trade secrets, but was not intentional.

The process begins with a piece of rope used as a "backbone" to anchor
the moulding to the wall

It also serves as a base from which to begin building the plaster up

Layer by layer it gets built up

The template is passed over the plaster after each application

Still does not look like much

A little free-hand forming

To the right you can see the moulding begin to take shape

Hiding the secret to how it is done

Nearly finished

Because the template is made of aluminium it leaves black marks on the
dry plaster wall

Finished and ready for cleanup

What we did not manage to get any pictures of was my process of sculpting leaves and flowers from freshly applied plaster, but some of that was done as well. I began with the castings that were made for over the doors, but stretched it to more than double the length by breaking it in sections, adding wet plaster between, and then sculpting it to match up to the cast parts

Finished plaster arch moulding with sculpted leaves

Another thing that has been done is the changing
of the newel posts and balusters.
(they were just simple square pieces)