Category: the hive gallery

Starting the mold (mould) from the sculpture.
Finished the left eye and nose, then started the mould process. I was nervous at first, I always thought that the original sculpture would be trash if you didn’t make the mould just right (that’s for plaster moulds), but after the first layer was dry I was hooked. I think (cross fingers) that this will be a good first test and I can then start scaling up.

First pour of silicone
I will let it cure overnight and apply another coat of smooth-on 5050 in the morning. So far easy to work with and i like the pink on white I can see the high/strong and low/weak points.

Second coat
Clem is waiting for the first mold pour before she approves anything, Clem is on the left.

Third pour now with registration points, and dams to fill weak spots.
The ‘Clem Head’ is almost ready, I used scrap clay to make terraces around the eyes and nose areas (lots of detail low thickness). Registration pieces were cut from bits of foam insulation, but i will be using left over silicons bits in the future, the foam ripped holes and have escaped.

I made a Mother mold
Mother mold made out of plaster, it’s a simple two part mold, next time I’ll make it lighter and maybe more sections. I didn’t put too much (none) thought into the back.

De molding
Very excited about this part. After 4 days I wanted to see how the original sculpture would fare.

The original came out trouble free. The original is made out of Plastilina clay and popped out without the use of any demoulding spray.

Putting the parts together
Starting the casting process mother mold together with the silicone mold, and the an after thought backplate.

The backplate, cork and elastic… will it work?

After twirling the plastic mix (smooth-on) around for 7-14 minutes. I remove backplate and peek inside. This is my first time doing this so I have no idea if this is right…

After demolding
I am so happy at this point. Sculpture (pink) original (white) and first cast (grey).

It is late at night but i press on and make 7 castings. Clem Heads are ready to paint.

The next morning Clem joins me and checks out the work, she even poses so i can do a comparison, thanks Clem.

Update: The Giant Maggie head
I have a lot of work to do and can’t wait to get back to it. I have to finish the pieces for the May, Hive Gallery show first, and then it’s back to giant dog heads. Below is the incomplete Giant Dog head with coins for scale.