Deer Chief Nephew NIB, here's your girl in progress.

[Glen Conley]

Bill, this is what I came up with to stabilize the mold flanges with while making them.

It only takes a little thin piece of fiberglass cloth at a right angle to hold it in place.  Once the mold is finished, come back and cut off the edge.  And it will be tough to cut.

In the photo labeled retainer1, you can see that the cloth is stuck to the clay.  The clay is simply wet with resin, and the light cloth sticks quite readily, and stays in place.  Once the clay is removed, the next retainer is already in place.  It’s easiest to use a wood spacer about 3” long, 1 ½  wide, and ½” thick for a scissor guide to trim down the fiberglass cloth.

In the photo labeled print coat you can see how the sculpture to flange union is shaping up.  This is with two coats of resin.  I’ll do one more resin coat, and then start the build up.

[SCT]

Glen, are you cleaning those brushes with lacquer thinner? Thanks for the photos.

[Glen Conley]

Steve, I don't clean any brushes with the exception of artist's brushes.  They get a one way ticket around here.  I use 10 to the mold right now, and I don't expect I'll be reducing that number.  I don't know what we are paying for brushes right now, but the 1", and 2" are bought by the carton.  You can call Franz (pronounced Fronz) and ask him where he is buying the brushes.  His toll free is 1-877-861-5679.  Tell him I said to call so that he knows it's a legit call.

We have a farm store (Orschelins) here that has some of those made  in China tables.  They were periodically getting in a few packs of 15 assorted artist's brushes for $3.88 per pack.  I would buy what ever they had when I was in there any time.  I thought that was a pretty good price for throw aways, and I was expecting all the bristles to come out at once, or the ferrules to come off in use, but that hasn't happened.  I've been cleaning those and have used them on different mediums including clays and two part epoxys.  I'm still on the first pack from two or three years ago and have only lost two of them!  Some day I'll get the one, it got knocked off the work bench and rolled under the freezer.

[Glen Conley]

Update.  The side that you saw laid out above is now covered with the first half of the mold.  It was finished yesterday.  I'll start on the prep for the second half today.  I've got almost forty holes to fill and make disappear,  plus cleaning the clay off the flange, that's going to take me a few minutes.

And Steve, I left out the answer to your above question.  Sorry 'bout that.  I use acetone for cleaning brushes spreaders, spoons, etcetera.   Pour your acetone into a soup can, then set it down inside a coffee can with a plastic lid.  Keep the lid on the coffee can except when you are actually cleaning something.  Acetone can have a lot of junk in it and it will still clean.

[Brian Jones]

sweet!

[buckfeverbob]

Very nice. I ran across this shot and it looks exactly like your form so I thought I would share.