Saturday, September 26, 2009

Wax Pattern Chased and Ready to Cast!



Yesterday, I spent the afternoon chasing (touching up) the wax casting of the "Yma" sculpture. The foundry casts the wax pattern using a dark brown wax that is quite durable. To resculpt or smooth certain areas I also used a softer red wax and for filling in air bubbles, a very soft white wax which you can see in the photos which Kevin the foundry owner kindly took for me. The arms don't need to be reattached as they will be cast separately.
In the background, you can see the mold. It was made in several pieces using a high quality silicone rubber on the inside, with a plaster shell for support.

Next, the foundry will cut her in half (again!) so that the bronze will be hollow, attach sprues and do about 12 to 15 coats of ceramic investment. Hopefully, we'll be able to pour the metal by next Friday.

3 comments:

  1. Alecia, Wow! What beautiful, graceful and lifelike work! Your descriptions of the process are enlightening. Good luck with this complex form of art-making. Julia (from Opera A. A.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alecia, just lovely . . . I'm so thrilled to finally see your work. blessings, Laurie

    ReplyDelete