By Justin Godar

A FEW YEARS ago I got it into my head that I wanted to sell handguns on Market Street. Not the real and illegal variety but a squeaky-clean soap version. The plan was to sell them at various tourist destinations, proving to visitors that one really can buy handguns on any street corner.

Well, due to sloth and a busy schedule, my plan never happened. But I did figure out how to make quality molds and soap guns, and these are guaranteed to be memorable, if not shocking, stocking stuffers. Should you not find guns and soap to be as inspiring as I do, you can use the method described below to cast others objects.

I used to make my own soap from scratch, necessitating a trip to the butcher for suet and the handling of lye and a few other incredibly toxic and dangerous chemicals, but I don't think the outcome is worth the effort. You need to buy too much stuff (meaning that not only do you have to pay for it, but you also have to store it), and it makes a huge mess, takes too long, and is far more taxing than most people have the patience for. Plus, many handmade soaps don't cast very well, which means your soap gun could come out looking more like a soap glob.

Instead, I encourage you to take a very cost-effective and time-saving short cut. Use the "melt and pour"-style soap available at craft stores or online. Some of these only require melting in the microwave, making them immediately ready to pour into your mold. Prefab melting soap comes in varieties to please every skin type, from fragranced glycerin, to goat milk, to hemp seed oil. If you like, you can customize the mixture with a variety of products, such as scents, colors, and exfoliants, which are often available at health food stores or wherever the soap is sold.

With a one-piece mold, anything you make will be flat on one side (an ice cube tray is an example of a one-piece mold). For this exercise, we'll make a flexible, two-piece, three-dimensional mold out of two-part silicone RTV – fancy craftspeak for room-temperature vulcanizing. A two-piece mold acts as a case for the soap or wax and determines the object's shape and texture. There's a top and bottom portion of the mold, and usually a number of holes and bumps (or "keys") that hold the two pieces in one position to ensure the seamless appearance of the finished product. Silicone RTV is fairly easy to find, moderately priced, not too time-consuming, flexible, and durable enough to create a mold that can be used a number of times.

Mixing the two liquid components of the silicone RTV kit will make it form a solid once it's poured into a shape and allowed to set. You can buy kits at craft stores (like Pearl Paint, 969 Market, S.F. 415-357-1400, www.pearlpaint.com), plastics dealers (like TAP Plastics, 154 South Van Ness, S.F. 415-864-7360, www.tapplastics.com), and Douglas and Sturges (730 Bryant, S.F. 1-888-ART-STUF, www.artstuf.com). Incidentally, if you want to get really serious about mold making, Douglas and Sturges has a tremendous amount of information and products from which to choose.

Choosing the right gun (or other object of your molding desire) is important. Whatever you choose shouldn't have too many deep details, thin extremities, or holes; otherwise the final product may never come out of the mold in one piece. Plastic toys work very well, especially water-based ones, like simple squirt guns, and squeezable pet toys. Try to choose something about the size of a bar of soap or smaller.

To make the mold, you'll need:
. A permanent marker
. The object to be casted
. clay, wax from a candle or crayon, or hot glue
. Enough cardboard to make a box just larger than the object you want to cast
. Clear packing tape
. One pound or more of melt-and-pour soap
. One pencil
. About a quart of silicone RTV (less for small objects)
. Disposable cups (with graduated markings, if you can find them)
. A disposable mixing stick
. Mold release (there's a real product for this, but I've used shortening)
. Waterproof gloves
. A box cutter and scissors
. A small paintbrush

Method:
With the permanent marker, draw a line that divides the object into two mirror-image halves. With cheap plastic toys, often a line is already laid out for you as a ridge where the two pieces of the toy came together. Also, look for any holes and overhanging parts of the object and fill them with the clay, wax, hot glue, or anything else that will fill the gap and stay in place.

Next, you'll need to make a box to snuggly fit the size of the mold (no top necessary). Measure your object and build a cardboard box one inch wider, one inch longer, and one and a half inches taller than the object. Seal the inside seams with clear packing tape and tape the sides upright. You'll want to be able to easily assemble and disassemble it later by cutting and retaping the corners.

Use some of the melt-and-pour soap to help make the mold. Place your object in the box and center it. Heat the soap according to the manufacturer's directions just until it melts (don't boil it), then pour it around the object until it reaches the halfway mark you've drawn on. Once the soap is cool but not completely hard (about 3 to 15 minutes), poke the eraser end of a pencil a quarter of an inch deep into the soap near each box corner and smooth out any ridges and bubbles with your fingers. This will be the first half of the mold.

Now, mix enough silicone RTV, as directed, to cover the object's top side, plus about a half inch more. The amount you'll need depends on the size of your object, but it should be about half of the silicone (not more than two cups). Pour the mixture slowly into the box. Any bubbles in the mix will rise to the top and not affect the important side of the mold.

Follow the silicone manufacturer's directions and let the first half cure completely, likely overnight. Then, carefully cut open the sides of the box and flip the object over so that the soap side is facing up. Pull off the soap half (you can clean and reuse the soap for casting). Apply mold release to every surface of the exposed silicone mold, including under the object. Retape the sides of the box around the silicone and the object, and tape them in place. Mix the second batch of silicone and pour enough over the second side of the object to cover it by half an inch or more. Let this side cure.

Cut down the sides of the box once again, pull apart the halves, and remove the object. You should now have a workable mold.

To use the mold, melt some soap and pour it into each half. Once the mixture has cooled enough to just solidify (again, 3 to 15 minutes), brush the exposed, flat areas with some hot soap and "paste" the two halves together. Once it's cooled completely, pull apart the mold and trim off any excess with a knife. If you like, another option is to cut a hole into the mold to pour the soap or wax through while the mold is held together, though if you plan to make a lot of reproductions of your object, you might not want to go this route. Note that you can also use your freezer to hasten the cooling process.

Repeat this process until all your friends are armed with as much gun soap, or whatever, as they need.