casting mediums?

[RossM]

Looking for attractive and affordable casting mediums. I have been oblivious to alternatives to bronze and need direction. Are there services for designer resins or other alternatives. I'm not sure I can achieve the quality or look I desire using resins. I have only seen low-end, do it yourself resins and they lack the quality I need. If anyone can lead me in the right direction I would be very thankfull.

[sculptor]

Looking for attractive and affordable casting mediums. I have been oblivious to alternatives to bronze and need direction. Are there services for designer resins or other alternatives. I'm not sure I can achieve the quality or look I desire using resins. I have only seen low-end, do it yourself resins and they lack the quality I need. If anyone can lead me in the right direction I would be very thankfull.

Welcome Ross:

Caveat----casting in resin is more labor intensive than bronze! Many folks seem to've missed this important point.

see the thread in here "patination" under "images gallery" here's the link.

link (http://www.sculpture.net/community/showthread.php?t=869)

good luck
rod

[RossM]

Thank you Rod for responding. I'm wondering if it is possible to cast in aluminum with a powder coat or some sort of oxidation (who know's). If you have any ideas for me please respond. I should post a photo of the statue to give people an idea of I'm working with. Thank you, Ross Moore

[fritchie]

RossM actually posted this twice. (No problem, RossM; new people commonly do this, but I’m trying to clear up the situation for others.) Most replies are posted here (http://www.sculpture.net/community/showthread.php?p=5563#post5563).

[jwebb]

It's possible and quite common to cast in aluminum, and there are various patinas and coatings and even anodized colors that can be applied to aluminum surfaces so that it doesn't look like, well, aluminum.. It depends on the character of the piece whether you'd want to do this instead of bronze, and other considerations like where it'll be sited and under what conditions. It is cheaper than bronze casting, if you find a foundry that does it regularly. But if you're looking for a casting method you can do yourself, aluminum is about as much of a hassle as bronze, though the alloy is cheaper. If you just want to duplicate a piece in a nice material, to use as a maquette or for indoor display, and it's not too huge, you can make a plaster piece mold and then make a plaster casting inside that. This technique used to be quite common and was commonly taught. It's very economical and the finished piece has a workable, finishable, paintable surface. You can do it in the garage.

[sculptor]

a small qualifier:

as/re fritchie's
"Advocates of “cold-cast” bronze are trying very hard to sell a modern product which doesn’t resemble genuine bronze much at all."

some folks take too many shortcuts-------if one strives valiantly to attain mediocrity by renouncing the work ethic, one usually succeeds.......

as shown in patination (http://www.sculpture.net/community/showthread.php?t=869)....... "bonded" or cold-cast (or whatever term folks use) can resemble hot-cast bronze------if the labor and some skill and talent are wisely invested. To make a good cold cast, bonded bronze, resin bronze, you must invest more labor than in "real" bronze-----even with foundry molten-cast bronze most honorable artists go on to spend lots of time in the final steps including patination.

There are 3 benefits -advantages--to doing a lay-up in "cold cast" or "bonded bronze"---

1-----strength to weight ratio----eg, mermaid (http://home.mindspring.com/~mandali/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/figure.sculpture.mermaid.by.figure.sculptor.rod.pa tterson.jpg) weighs 74 lbs, can be bolted to her stand with 3 5/16" and 3 3/8" bolts and carry her own weight cantelevered out her 2 feet of depth and carry two 170 lb men hanging on her arms----the strength in a bolt is transfered by it's threads, ... a 3/8 inch bolt has less than 1/8 inch of thread on both sides-----so the pull-out strength is weaker than the shear strength....I use 6 bolts so's i can snug 'em up and gain a little extra strength in the friction coefficient.
2 -----you do not need to travel your clays to a foundry nor build your own, a little skill and patience, a few brushes, some resin and glass cloth, and you can do this in your garage.
3------due to the lay-up nature of the process, the variety of patina is a tad wider than what I've seen in hotcast bronze.

but...........
As with anything in life--------QUALITY takes time!!!

Disadvantages--------
1-----U.V.degredation
2-----it can burn and is darned toxic while doing so
3-----the whole process is toxic, and MEKP (the catylist) is a liver killer
4-----time---the nature of the process requires a work, wait, work, wait, work, wait tempo that cannot be rushed

That being said-------I would dare to qualify fritchies above and say that "cold cast" can acheive a darned good mimic of hotcast, and even add some visual excitement if it is done with care.

Quality starts with caring, caring starts with love
If you love the art instead of loving the shortcuts, you'll find your way to quality.

(sculptor (http://www.dailyiowan.com/news/300617.html?mkey=477280))
Rod Patterson (http://sculpture.alturl.com)

[sculptor]

I posted 2 more to show Possibilities ...under.... images gallery....Swimmer - Leander (http://www.sculpture.net/community/showthread.php?p=5589#post5589)
lemme know yer thoughts

sculptor Rod Patterson (http://home.mindspring.com/~mandali/index.html)

[rderr.com]

"...Quality starts with caring, caring starts with love
If you love the art instead of loving the shortcuts, you'll find your way to quality..."
Rod

I would say that your closing statement, “… Quality starts with caring, caring starts with love. If you love the art instead of loving the shortcuts, you'll find your way to quality.”, is the best argument for doing hot cast bronze. Longevity of the resins probably will not be an issue. Curators have always found ways of preserving cherished objects. But why make it difficult?

That said, it is the words “quality”, “caring”, and “love” that open the can of worms. I read first the post “Leander” and as much as I admired the work, I did say, “Me. what is it that is lacking?” Dare I raise the issue of “Karma”? Is it that which makes the difference in the perception the lack of depth, or “soul” I do not take issue with quality, care, and love of your work, and presented with two Leanders, one cold and one hot, probably would not know the difference. But then again Karma is just that kind of paradox. By-the-by Rob, do you know what is a real paradox? Two medical men coming to the same conclusion.

All art is provocative
Ardor

[rderr.com]

Why has this very important topic languished?