when your room looks kind of weird
I was listening to The Nerdist podcast the other day and I heard them talking about Matt Mira’s love of anything Frasier. Â They mentioned a Muppet Babies/ Frasier crossover and I was instantly thinking of doing something. This was one of those projects that I probably don’t really have time for, but I couldn’t get it out of my head. So I just decided to do it and get it out there, it’s not perfect, but I love it!
Time to put together the ideas in my head, with the materials in my basement. Etsy store, here I come.
I followed some advice from a friends wife who works with prosthetic make-up appliances. Who suggested I make a rig to really hold the mold closed. It’s really cut down on the running looking like an idiot while white plastic gets stuck in all my finger hairs. The models do come out cleaner, but they are a little bent from the wood putting pressure on different parts of the mold. But I think I can fix that with some sanding and a little Epoxy clay.
Also, utility knives are sharp.
I’ve done a lot of casting, but all plaster so far. I knew that if I was going to make more complex detailed designs then I would need to move to epoxy plastic casting. In hindsight I should have started with a simpler, one piece mold. I thought that since this shape is basically a ball it would be easier.
Mistakes.
remove clay, feel sense of accomplishment.
Trying to make a mold for a small project I’m working on. I thought it was going to be a simple sculpture to start with. But the size and the fact that I wanted to keep it hollow are making it very challenging. I’ve followed a bunch of different tutorials online about making the mold. That’s not really the hard part. I think it’s very difficult to judge how much silicone you’ll need. Like everything in this it’s really important to plan ahead… which I’m not that good at.
gallery of process after the break.
I’ve decided to test out one of the best aspects of the epoxy clay, the ability to sand it and make thinner shapes than with traditional clay. I sculpted this space helmet over one of the plastic bubble inserts, I did it in two steps this time. First I just made a think dome then sanded that smooth. then I cut the hole for the plastic to show through. Then I went pack and added the outer visor and sides. What is cool about this stuff is that I was able to sand off a LOT of it with a sanding wheel and was able to get it looking very symetrical. Which is something I have trouble with.
I think I’m getting the hang of this. I get that you have to be pretty methodical with the planning to get it just right. and it helps to be patient. I’m not sure what I’m going to do for the body section of this? I might have to do some more planning. The bottom image is from another sculpt that I’m doing currently. I get why Jason Freeny is constantly working on more than one thing at a time.
I ordered some mold making materials that should be here today. I’m really excited to get into epoxy casting and then start with the painting on these guys.
more pictures after the break.