Anyone familiar w creating silicone/fiberglass mold to produce a series of fiberglass statues? I’ve got a project but could use a mentor to help me navigate thru with some tips. I’ve never done this. Thx
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I think the closest to this that I’ve seen at LMN is fiberglassing a canoe. I do think that we’ve got a vacuum pump rattling around, but no pressure pot to degas the silicone.
I have taken a silicone “casting” from a flight helmet to make replicas.
I also have someone that was interested as well.
@JamesScofield what kinds of questions did you have in particular? Can you tell us more about your project?
Well, I plan to make a series of life-sized (6’) statues out of fiber glass. I envision sculpting the original from carved foam and clay detailing - I’m fairly confident with that step. After my original is done, I want to reproduce multiple copies in a durable, outdoor-suitable material that can be painted and finished. After some internet exploration, I think the most time/effort/cost effective method for reproductions making them from fiberglass. The process looks like it will be to coat the original in a silicone rubber to capture detail, then build an outer multi-part shell from fiberglass to stabilize the silicone mold, then open it all up, remove the original, lay in fiberglass layers into the silicone mother mold in parts, join the seams in fiber glass from the inside, and voila - hollow fiberglass statue. I’m confident with an original sculpt but I’ve never worked with any of the reproduction steps - silicone rubber, fiberglass, or any other casting mediums (except small sculpture bronze casting thru lost-wax method - very different). Anyway, I have a reckless optimism, but recognize I’ve got a lot of unknowns ahead of me and would love to get some tips/consulting/mentoring from someone who might save me some grief of rookie errors.
Sounds interesting/frightening. I can help with a few things that might be able to be scaled. There are other questions though, like what is your budget?
I used a “mud” of talc and resin in the first layer to capture the smooth surface of the mold that would have been lost if I had just started with glass cloth or matting. I used the cloth in the next two layers with the grain of the cloth pivoted at 45 degrees for more strength and rigidity. (Not that the objects would enter the abuse conditions that the originals did at times.) If talc becomes too difficult to find, any fine particulate should work.
This sounds like something a small group of advisers might like to gather to ‘mad engineer’ it up.