Hello, Well to start off with it is an honour to be discussing mold materials with you Colin. I have watched your work for many years. My twin and I have been using Zircar Mold Mix 6 for many years and this is a picture of a piece we did at Pilchuck in Mold Mix 6. If you are patient , mold mix 6 is a wonderful alternative to Plaster/Silica but it is not for every design for sure. This is a nice soft shape and a good design for for this ceramic shell material. It does have to be backed with large grain sand though (for breathability) and we still add vents just to make sure. It is not a great mold choice for sharp angles until you understand how it works and how it shrinks. Too many people want to speed up the process , but there is no fast way. We are experimenting with a sputter gun but alot of material is wasted. We are also working with Zircar to perhaps have a display at the G.A.S. conference to help people understand the product more, but not sure about details yet. We are hoping that Zircar will come up with a great written package for artists that is professional.My twin Melanie and I did a demo at Corning with Milon Townsend during our joint class , and he is now using it too to push flameworked beads and things into it, but we use different mold release for different applications and hopefully Tom Hamling from Zircar will do a write up for everyone with all the details. Perhaps we could show you some ideas we have been working on someday. Leslie Rowe-Israelson