After several years the papier-mâché finials disintegrated, so I created a new rubber mold from the original finial with a wooden dowel glued in the end and cast 12 new plastic finials to retro fit the Cemetery Gates.
   

 

This is a picture of the 2 part mold secured with rubber bands and a couple of pieces of wood then clamped using a couple of C-clamps, as the casting material (Por-a-Kast) cures.
   

Once the material cures for about 20 minutes the bands are removed and the mold is opened. This shows the cast with some flashing.
   

Here is the original finial (far left) followed by 3 casts; the first is a untinted copy, the next has a small bit of black pigment added to the part B of the por-a-kast, the last has more black added.
   
   

Each finial was coated with a primer and then a flat black spray paint. Since these will be used for outdoors I added a couple coats of an exterior polyurethane for weather protection.
 
Finial 1
 
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