Plaster Room 29/11/18

I am putting the leaves to one side for now, they have been dipped in wax so they should stay in a usable condition over the break. The above photos show the process of prepping the wax dipped roses to go into a plaster mould- Lindsey was showing me how to do it in a […]

Plaster Room 26/11/18

Notes Made up a batch of herculite for my hot rubber moulds- to demonstrate the process I am going to leave them exactly as they came out of the moulds I made sure to wiggle the moulds as I poured to make sure the plaster got into every crevice The bones came out beautifully but […]

Practical Work To Do List

Buy saucepan for glass wax Use existing moulds to make glass wax casts Use existing moulds to make jesmonite casts (plaster casts didn’t work) Finish bronzes and aluminium casts Go back to riverbank and find plastic bottle (and other things?) Cast bottle in foundry (?) Use existing moulds to use eco resin? – Speak to […]

Applying the Patina

A patina can refer to the natural colouration that happens over time to bronze, as the copper in the alloy reacts to oxygen, or it can refer to a man-made process where a chemical mixture is heated onto the surface of the bronze, to achieve different colours and effects. I am referring to the man-made […]

Removing Excess Metal from the Casts

The photos above show the process and tools used for this stage of the project. As you can see I used a clamp to keep the casts in place whilst cutting and grinding off excess metal using a Dremel and angle grinder. I had to remove the cup, and all of the runners, risers and […]

Cleaning Plaster From the Casts

Once the moulds had been poured and removed from the sandpit they next stage was to cut off the plaster coating, with a saw, and then smash open each mould with a mallet. The above photo shows one of the bronze casts, mid smashing. The aim was to remove as much of the plaster as […]

Prepping the Moulds for the Kiln/Setting up for the Pour

Before the moulds could be fired in the kiln, Becky removed the plastic from the outside (that we had used to make the moulds, as seen in previous posts, and the brick video). We then had to cover the sides and bottom of each mould with layers of scrim coated in plaster, to create a […]