February 16, 2011

Okay...

So The silicone still ended up being thinner then I would have liked but it holds up okay. I created a plaster shell over it and decided it would be helpful to lock the silicone into the shell for support. Unfortunately I didn't count on the fact that I'd have to do some deep cutting to separate the two halves of the silicone.
I ended up having to break off the plaster shell which fortunately remained in one piece (more or less) since I had reinforced it with cheese cloth. It's still in very rough shape however so it's future as a mold shell is still a question.
 These are the ruins of the original sculpt. As I peeled back the silicone, the top layer of Sculpey was already flaking off. Since the future of the statue is uncertain I'm back to wondering whether or not I should have baked the sculpt. If I had, I would be able to try the silicone and plaster over again. Then I look at my container full of Sculpey scraps and realize how much materials I saved to use over again.
 Now the issue is re-closing the silicone. There are keys in the wall but they serve little purpose and I can't rely on the plaster to hold everything in place. I'm toying with different options to keep it closed.
I don't have enough surgical clamps to close the whole thing and tape won't stick to silicone so I might be stuck with paperclips.

I also coated the interior of the mold with baby powder. Theoretically this will help make the resin cast paintable but it remains to be seen. If it doesn't work, I'll have to find an autobody primer.

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