Polytek Spray on rubber molds

Lester holding arm after we cut it off.  We tied and taped off the arms to keep  from deforming the surface.
This was a very stressful operation but worked out perfectly.

Figure without arms. This makes mold making easier and allows for better results,

Figure laid out to facilitate spray on mold. We supported figure in the middle to keep from deforming it.
We added shims to part the figure in half but I forgot to get pictures of that step.

After spraying, the tool in the foreground is used with cartridges for applying mold material.

Mold material applied, note the flange surrounding the figure creating a parting line for two halves of the mold.

Tomorrow we will be spraying on the plastic mother mold which will give form to the flexible rubber.
This was a stress filled day of very hard work. Everything worked as planned and tonight the rubber is curing so we can proceed to the next step.

Modeling hands in clay

That's me working on hands today and a close up of one that is finished.

Yesterday Robin from Duluth Police Dept. and Steve from St. Louis County Sheriff's Dept. came up for a preview. They are happy with the progress and gave me the go ahead to start mold making.

Lester has been making molds already of the hardware that goes on the officer's belts. The goal is to have both the figures finished and in molds by the 4th of Feb.

Big Plasteline Figures

It's been a while since I have shown you a picture to put things in scale. This is the present form the Duluth project is in. Reworked the female figure quite a bit. She is more svelte now. A few details to go on the figures then the mold making can begin.
Representatives from Duluth Police Department and St. Louis County Sheriff's Office are coming to visit tomorrow. Hopefully they will be pleased.

Wax Patterns ready for investment

Shown here are the two S&W hand guns ready to be subjected to the refractory mold process. In the lost wax casting method the term is investment. What you see here are the two guns made from wax. The red material is wax as well and you see the two paper cups.

The cups form a funnel in the mold. The red wax attaching the cup to the gun is called a sprue, the little red wax from the butt of the gun and from the holster to the cup are vents. Imagine trying to pour water into a pop bottle, the difficulty is the air must rush out as fast as the water pours in. By venting we can rapidly pour bronze into the molds.

Everything you see here gets invested (covered) in refractory mold material. We use Shell-Spen, a liquid colloidal silica and sand to build up coats of the mold. When fully coated the material will be 1/4 of an inch thick. The wax will then be melted out of the molds, the molds heated to 1800 degrees then bronze poured in where the wax was. The result is everything you see here will then be bronze. The sprue with cup and the vents will be cut off leaving the gun.

I will take pictures of the process to help illustrate what I'm attempting to explain.

Today's progress

Missing is the badge and detail on the shirt patches.  I've decided to make separate molds for these and add them in the wax stage.

Shirt pocket with a pen.

Belt with basket weave, again this texture will be easier to add to the wax.

Made good progress today. I'm thinking the top half of the male figure is finished (except for the hands).

A more friendly officer

I softened his expression a bit by filling out his lips and giving him a hint of a smile. Pockets on the shirt are a bit small here and when I enlarge them he will get a pen in his pocket. The badge and patches on the shirt will be next.

Lester did a good job on the mold of the hand gun but will be detailing the wax more. The details are fussy to do but add so much to the personality of the figure. Our challenge will be to quit bumping into parts that are finished while working on other parts. The clay is soft enough to mark easily with finger prints.

The plan is to be ready to start mold making by the end of this week on this figure.

Smith & Wesson but bigger

Here is the service weapon for both of the figures. I need to put a strap over it but you get the idea. Again this is scaled 1.171 times larger than life sized. I can make one mold of this and use it for both figures.

I have this figure nearly finished. I need to add pockets to his shirt and the back of his pants and the badge and shirt patches.