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Peek into the mold dept

These are four of the new things, in the mold department. They have had a layer of clay put over them. This is the first step in the mold making process.For some reason, I’ve always found this stage of the process to be beautiful.I guess it is because I like to see the forms simplified.

There is a standing baby kirin, a grab bag dragon, a winged baby meerkat, and the unicorn colt. The foo-mom master is sitting in the back waiting for production molds to be made on her.

20 thoughts on “Peek into the mold dept”

  1. So awesome! It’s neat to see the different steps in the process! 😀 It’s also nice to see them all next to each other for size comparison (has baby meerkat to compare to *teehee*).

    Oooooh, I spy with my little eye, a baby griffin chick and a little poad in the background with a curlie (and some other things!).

  2. [quote=siberakh1]So awesome! It’s neat to see the different steps in the process! 😀 It’s also nice to see them all next to each other for size comparison (has baby meerkat to compare to *teehee*).

    Oooooh, I spy with my little eye, a baby griffin chick and a little poad in the background with a curlie (and some other things!).[/quote]

    it’s faint and blurry, but i think a flap cat is on the bottom shelf too. possibly spotted =P

  3. I’m going to be a bit geeky and ask a technical question. My mother-in-law is an art teacher, and we are sitting here trying to figure out what the clay is for. Are the original sculpts under the clay? Are the clay molds used to make the mold master sculpts? Is that polymer clay? brain… must… comprehend… LOL

    I LOVE these behind-the-scenes shots!! :bigsmile:

  4. [quote=Amy Jane]I spy one more mold in the bottom right hand corner of the picture. What is that one next to the unicorn colt?[/quote]

    Maybe the egg for the new hatching dragon?

  5. [quote=etruscan][quote=Amy Jane]I spy one more mold in the bottom right hand corner of the picture. What is that one next to the unicorn colt?[/quote]

    Maybe the egg for the new hatching dragon?[/quote]
    I bet you’re right 🙂

  6. [quote=bayoudragon]I’m going to be a bit geeky and ask a technical question. My mother-in-law is an art teacher, and we are sitting here trying to figure out what the clay is for. Are the original sculpts under the clay? Are the clay molds used to make the mold master sculpts? Is that polymer clay? brain… must… comprehend… LOL

    I LOVE these behind-the-scenes shots!! :bigsmile:[/quote]
    In the case of the kirin and dragon, the thing under the clay is a rough sculpture made of polymer clay. The resulting molds from these will be used to cast the gypsum pieces that will be detailed to make “masters”.

    The Foo mom, uni colt and winged meerkat are finished gypsum masters.

    The mold making process is similar in both cases.

    The sculpture gets a layer of soft oil-based clay over the whole thing. The mold maker then applies a layer of plaster over the oil clay to form a rigid removable shell. We call this part the “mold case”. The mold case is made in sections so it can be removed from the clay surface.

    The soft oil clay is removed from the master sculpture after the mold case is completed and removed. When the mold case is returned to its original position around the master sculpture, there is a void the thickness of the clay layer. This space is then filled with silicone rubber.

    So we are making a mold for the mold.

    After it sets, the flexible rubber mold is peeled off of the master sculpture, replaced into the rigid mold case to support it, and it is filled with liquid gypsum to duplicate the sculpture … assuming all goes well, which, it often as not – doesn’t.
    (This is Melody… I forgot I was signed in as Drupaldragon)

  7. [quote=Amy Jane]I spy one more mold in the bottom right hand corner of the picture. What is that one next to the unicorn colt?[/quote] I think that was the clay-up for the new hatching dragon’s egg.

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