Rubber is almost finished.

 

Once the shims have been painted over it can be difficult to remember what has fresh rubber on it and what doesn't. To solve this problem Steve adds inert blue chalk dust to the mix between layers. The cream areas visible have the fourth layer of rubber on them, and the blue areas are the fifth coat of rubber that is just being painted on. There will be one additional coat of rubber painted over the entire piece and then it is time to create the plaster and hemp "mother" mold. This will be a rigid plaster shell that fits over the rubber to provide support and stability when the wax is poured later on. 

  

  

 

Shimming is complete.

 

 At this point all of the shims or dividing lines are in place. The next step will be to paint additional coats of rubber over the entire piece including the shims.

There are two types of shims visible in this photo, most of the shims are constructed to provide a break in the mold, but in two areas they have "windows" cut into them with half spere plastic partitions or "keys" inserted. These are areas where the mold on either side can be joined back together later and wax will be poured as a hollow instead of a panel.

  

  

  

Here is a close-up of one of the keyed areas.

 

Building the mold shims

 

The shims are basically dividing lines for the mold when it is finished. They are the places where the mold will come apart. You can see in these photos that the shim lines are being built where lines of pins had been placed in previous photos

  

  

 

First coat of rubber.

 Steve from SAV Mold Making in Loveland is applying the first coat of rubber to the piece. This is a thin mix of rubber that will more easily pick up all of the texture on the surface of the piece.

 

 

 

At the Mold Makers Studio.

The Bean Pods have been delivered and pins have been placed in the pods to denote where the shim lines will placed.

 

Bean Pods ready for transport.

Pods are in the truck ready for the trip to the mold maker.

A special thanks is due to Mike Fister of Bronze Services for his assistance in the loading and transport of the sculpture.

It was a slow, cold trip to the mold makers studio, but the piece arrived in perfect condition.

Stem parts ready for mold.

Here the parts have been cleaned up and positioned so that the molds can be made on them.

Stem parts.

Here are the stem parts right after being cut off. They will still need to be cleaned up and set in place for the mold maker before leaving the studio.

Preparing the Bean Pods for mold making.

The stems on the pods had to be removed for a couple of reasons. First, and most importantly, the sculpture wouldn't fit out the door of my studio with them still attached. Secondly, they are the most fragile part of the sculpture and I wouldn't have wanted to risk damage to them on the 10 mile drive to the mold makers studio.

The successive photos show the stems being cut and removed.

 

Shannon and the Bean Pods

Bean Pods are FINISHED!

After surviving the holidays, I have finally been able to get back to the Bean Pods and finish them. I am very happy with how they turned out and am really excited to see the first casting. The last couple of days have been busy with coordinating the schedules for the mold maker, the wax pouring, and the foundry. Now begins the task of preparing them for the mold-making process.