Removing the rubber mold.

 

The rubber is peeled back from each section of the original. It then has the edges trimmed up with scissors and is fitted onto the surface of the corresponding plaster mold.

  

  

  

  

 

Cleaning the plasters.

 

Each section has the edges trimmed up with a knife and then a torch is run over the edge to burn away any excess hemp. They are then ready to have the rubber inner mold put into place

 

Taking the plaster mold apart.

 

Each section is worked loose and set aside to be cleaned up later.

  

Sometimes the sections come loose easily, and sometimes they have to be pried loose.

  

  

In order to remove the plasters from the bottom of the piece, we had to take apart the armature and lift the entire piece free from the base and lay it on the floor.

 

The mold is plastered.

 

 

Making the plaster mold.

 

The first step is to make a "splash" coat of plaster. This consists of splashing a thin layer of plaster over the area in order to get a good base of plaster on the piece.

  

  

Next, the hemp is dipped into the plaster and then placed over the splash coat.

  

The hemp is about half done. the entire surface will be covered like this.

  

 Once all the hemp is in place, then more plaster is added  and smoothed by hand in order to create a clean surface to the mold.

 

The mold section is finished. Each individual section of the mold will go through this same process.

Preparing to make the plaster mold.

Each mold is comprised of two parts, a soft inner layer made out of rubber that will pick up fine detail, and a rigid outer mold that will provide support. The outer mold is made up of plaster and has hemp added to provide strength. The photo above shows Steve using plastic to protect the rest of the mold while one section is plastered.

 

Forming the hemp into balls.

  

The hemp is  formed into balls and ready for use.

 

Mixing the plaster.

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.