Sorry, Ramakarl, but that's all wrong. First off, the whole plaster step is unnecessary. The wooden carving will make a perfectly good pattern without going through all that. Second, you want to have a contoured pattern of an even thickness, cut on both sides, not just one. This goes in the middle of the flask, which should be divided into two parts (called the cope and the drag). That way, the thickness is controlled as well as the cooling of the metal. You ram the sand, then pull the two parts apart and reassemble the mold with holes cut into the top sand portion for the metal to enter and the air to exit. Pouring an open-faced mold just doesn't work too well, as you demonstrate. Your pouring technique is dangerous; you're not supposed to grip one wall of the crucible with your tongs and pour like that; this risks catastrophic failure, which would pour hot metal all over your tennis shoes (not the right attire for this process). Invest in a proper pair of tongs that grip the crucible on the outside, under the bulge, and a pouring ring that supports it while it's tipped. You can't just pour more aluminum on top of metal that's already cool; it just makes a mess, as you probably noticed. And please, lose the horrible music...