02.18.10 Pretty in pink and purple, and blue....

Okay, well, maybe not so pretty.  More like a chunky, gloppy mess!


On the left, Iko, on the right, Tee-Nah, both coated in several layers of silicone mold material. Barry uses Smooth-On Mold Max 30, which is pink.  Adding blue dye to alternating coats of goo makes it a bit easier to keep track of how many coats have been applied to which areas of a brush-up mold. 

Just to review, a brush-up mold is made by brushing, drizzling really, multiple layers of a mold material over your original sculpture.  The first few layers are very thin and runny, which allows the mold material to sink into every little detail of the sculpture.  Successive layers may have a thickening agent added to them so that you can bulk up more quickly.  But still, it's a process that takes time.

Larger chunks of already cured mold material may be "glued" onto seam areas to help reinforce those critical areas.  That's what you see in this detail shot; a long rectangular block of pink silicone that is pinned in place on Iko's foreleg while the "glue" mold material sets up.  Also, a purply-blue half dome "button" of silicone has been pinned in place on his side.  Such buttons will give the hard shell of the mother mold something to grab onto so that the flexible silicone material will stay exactly in place inside the rigid mother mold.

If you're wondering about the space-age looking enclosure the molds are curing in, it's a "hot box".  Temperature is a critical element for mold materials to cure properly.  Like other two-part concoctions, silicone mold material likes a warm environment to set-up properly.  Cool temperatures can slow cure times dramatically.

So, we've used silvery bubble-wrap-like insulation to enclose a space on an open wire rack.  When he really needs to crank up the heat, Barry places a heater directly underneath the hot box and drops some plastic sheeting across the front to trap the heat.  Humidity is also a concern when Barry is pouring resins, so we can keep track of both temperature and humidity with this handy gauge.


Much prettier in purple, green and gold are the last two pieces of King Cake that Barry baked for Mardi Gras this year.  He found a recipe that uses a yeast bread dough with a lemon cream cheese filling. Yum. We'll be adapting this recipe for other festive occasions!   ~ Lynn