Finial Failure

Deciding that the cemetery fence lacked a certain je ne se qua, I wanted to make my own finials for the individual posts, being too cheap to actually buy them (there are a lot of posts).

I designed a pattern out of some of the children's unused modeling clay I found in the basement. The idea being that I make a mold of this pattern, cast it twice out of plaster and glue the two halves together to create a prototype. After cleaning up the prototype, I make a two-part mold of it and use that mold to cast the multiples I need out of Hydrocal (I have lots). Paint, age, done. Simple, no?

Not having a lot of materials to make a mold out of, the genius that I am (not) realized that hot glue is cheap, would conform to the outlines of my design and be resiliant (and reuseable).

Only one issue with this idea, as I discover to my horror, that hot glue is HOT, hence the name. And the clay I used wasn't real clay, but some petroleum based product. Which melted under the heat of the glue...