Toby
08-16-2004, 03:49 PM
I think I want to open this out to a wider audience as I appear to be quite fixated on the topic. (see also inexpensive RTV silicone thread)
At the moment I make lost wax sculptures from clay originals. Therefore I take a mould of the original, cast a wax replica and then cast that in aluminium (aluminum .. gaah).
Now box-type mould cases, no problem.. sheet metal or ply or anything pulled out of a ditch on the way to the studio. But to use box-moulds means either bas-relief or a LOT of expensive moulding materials (so far Vylamould, silicones, plaster)
This becomes less feasible the larger (and more complex) my sculptures get. So instead of asking myself why I want to cast larger, more complex sculpture, I find myself looking for more accomodating mould cases.
Something which is light, strong, cheap & easy-to-apply.
I've used scrim-reinforced plaster (cheap, brittle, heavy), plaster bandage (not too cheap, bit of flex, easy to apply) and spray-on foam (not cheap, light, strong, good flex/rigidity properties, easy to apply + hard to work).
I appeal to your collective intellect, experience and imagination. Maybe I should send the winning idea a prize too. Hmmm..
I think I'll shake the tree at backyardmetalcasting and artmetal too.
At the moment I make lost wax sculptures from clay originals. Therefore I take a mould of the original, cast a wax replica and then cast that in aluminium (aluminum .. gaah).
Now box-type mould cases, no problem.. sheet metal or ply or anything pulled out of a ditch on the way to the studio. But to use box-moulds means either bas-relief or a LOT of expensive moulding materials (so far Vylamould, silicones, plaster)
This becomes less feasible the larger (and more complex) my sculptures get. So instead of asking myself why I want to cast larger, more complex sculpture, I find myself looking for more accomodating mould cases.
Something which is light, strong, cheap & easy-to-apply.
I've used scrim-reinforced plaster (cheap, brittle, heavy), plaster bandage (not too cheap, bit of flex, easy to apply) and spray-on foam (not cheap, light, strong, good flex/rigidity properties, easy to apply + hard to work).
I appeal to your collective intellect, experience and imagination. Maybe I should send the winning idea a prize too. Hmmm..
I think I'll shake the tree at backyardmetalcasting and artmetal too.