Finishing the Polyurethane Mold

The head is now in the final stages of the rubber mold. I have added seem lines that are supported around the edges by a layer of cheese cloth embeded in the last coat of rubber. I also added several 'buttons' to the surface of the mold that will act like snaps or buttons when the rubber mold is in the mother mold. The mother mold will be added over the rubber mold once the rubber has had a little more time to set. It will be make out of plaster and fiberglass.

The photo above is of the vats of the A and B components I used to make the polyurethane rubber mold. The smaller buckets are what i used to mix the two components together. I had to have five of these buckets to rotate through as I mixed new batches of rubber. I mixed the rubber with a paint mixer and applied it with large flat brushes.

In over my HEAD

I finally finished applying and sculpting the 3,000 pounds of clay I bought and now I am starting to work on the flexible mold. I'm discovering that this is a very difficult process because of the amount of surface area I need to cover. There just aren't enough hours in a day.

In the two photos (one above, one below) I have added the first and half of the second layer of the mold making material. It takes about 24 hrs to set completely so I can finish the second layer and add a third over several days instead of all at once. I have found that if I mix one half of one blue bucket at a time I can spread it out over a portion of the head before it begins to become too sticky to work with.

Below are two photos of the final version of the clay sculpture. These are also the last photos I took of the head before I started to make the mold, so if it all goes horribly wrong then this is the only evidence I have that it existed in its complete form!

Dow board done, more clay

My venture into foam tured out to be fruitful. From the bottom two photos in this post you can see that I used the dow board like tiles or puzzle pieces and the spray foam like grouting material. I am very pleased with how the structure has worked out. It is unfortunate that I have to cover it with clay because I find the bare foam structure to be very peculiar and exciting. The other great discovery I found about the foam is that it stands up to the weight of the clay extremely well. In most areas I am not adding more then an inch or two of material because the shape of the foam armature is so close to the exterior shape of the work, however in other areas the foam is holding pounds of clay with no problem.

In the photo above here you can see how the shape of the face and it's expression has been enhanced by the addition of hair where before there was only a mask like hair line. Also you get a good shot of the drawing I am beginning to make of my father with the same expression on the wall in the background and how it compares to the sculpture.

Optimistic Attempt at Building Mass and an Excuse to Play with Foam

To model the shape of the head I decided to try using foam and dow board.

At the base of the head I started gluing together slices of dow board with gorilla glue as recommended by a fellow sculptor from Hampshire College. Waiting for the glue to set was too time consuming and wouldn't allow me to put pieces together fast enough. I changed to building some support boards that jut out from the original armature and I am now connecting them together with wire and spray foam. I'm a little concerned about how the dow board and spray foam will hold up to the weight of the clay.

As you can see from this last photo the original armature has become dwarfed by the scale of the face so continuing to build outwards with clay alone is not an option.

Final Expression

This is the final facial expression the sculpture will be holding. Now I need to build the bulk of the head. Additionally, I've collected all the information I need to purchase molding and casting materials. Hopefully that will unfold in the upcoming week!