1) the shelf life for Mold Max 30 is listed to be 6 months but it's more like a year. 8 years is almost certainly way too long. You can open it and check but I'd bet it's useless.

2) I haven't used oomoo but I understand it isn't near as durable as Mold Max. As I understand it oomoo will dry out after a year or two even if you don't use the mold. Can someone who has used it confirm this?

3) I seal all my plaster masters with Future floor polish (kelar in the UK I believe). It works great and is all you need. You CAN get away without any sealing but it's a lot harder to demold and you'll almost certainly trash your masters in the process.

4) if you don't have a vacuum chamber you should paint on the silicone to be safe. There's nothing more annoying than making a mold then finding some bubbles that ruin it after you're done.

Making your own molds is a bit nerve wracking but you get the hang of it pretty quickly.

Itar

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