{"id":688,"date":"2013-05-22T17:14:39","date_gmt":"2013-05-22T21:14:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/?p=688"},"modified":"2015-08-13T23:23:34","modified_gmt":"2015-08-14T03:23:34","slug":"how-to-try-new-media-silicone-casting-pt-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/how-to-try-new-media-silicone-casting-pt-2","title":{"rendered":"How to Try New Media &#8211; Silicone Casting pt 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Based on my discussions with the salesperson at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sculpturesupply.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Sculpture Supply Canada<\/a>, I purchased a few supplies and tools:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"bullet_star\">\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 13px;\">Silicone + catalyst (needed to turn the silicone from a\u00a0viscous\u00a0liquid into a solid)<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Mold release (necessary to spray inside the mold so that my cuffs\/bracelets would pop out later)<\/li>\n<li>Pigments to colour the silicone (both regular colours and UV-reactant colours)<\/li>\n<li>A DVD that went over the most common types of casting, including silicone casting<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There were other tools that I needed for this project, but a number of them were more common household items that could be purchased at a local dollar store or hardware store for a much lower price than most art stores. \u00a0And these tools and materials would come later, as there was a few steps that came up before I got to the casting stage.<!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>4. Organizing the Different Steps of Your Project To Create Good Workflow<\/h3>\n<p>So before I could do any casting, I needed a mold and to make a mold, I needed a model of the artwork I wanted to cast. \u00a0Two things I had to keep in mind while I set out to make my model:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>I needed to use materials that would not reactive negatively with the silicone I was using to make the mold (ie create a chemical reaction that would warp the mold, or use a material that would somehow inhibit the curing of the mold ie it would stay liquid and never become a solid)<\/li>\n<li>I needed to use a material that could capture the level of detail I wanted for the cuff\/bracelets.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Seeing as I had used polymer clay to make my dragonscale books in the past, I used the same polymer clay on a piece of wood to create my model of the dragonscale bracelet, including holes in the two ends of the cuff where I intended to attach the metal snaps. \u00a0I put the clay on the wood block so that when I poured the mold silicone around it, the bracelet would sit lower down in the mold with empty space above, so that I was less likely to overflow the mold cavity and get liquid silicone everywhere. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>These are the sort of precautions I&#8217;ve learned to take based on countless other times I didn&#8217;t do such a thing and accidentally got something liquid (paint, glue, etc) all over my workspace &#8211; experience is really the best teacher when it comes to anticipating these sorts of mishaps, but don&#8217;t worry about stuff like that too much &#8211; it happens and you learn from it.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_697\" style=\"width: 590px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-content\/uploads\/DBTutorial_01.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-697\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-content\/uploads\/DBTutorial_01.jpg\" width=\"580\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-697\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">My polymer clay model<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Once I had baked my model to make it permanent and painted the surface with glossy acrylic to seal it, I also took the time to get out my rotary tool and drill into the wood wherever I had made holes in the polymer clay model for the snaps. The reason I did this was to give the silicone extra space to fill, so that there would be no risk of ending up with incomplete holes in case I poured a little extra silicone into the mold &#8211; the extra long posts would ensure the hole always went all the way through.<\/p>\n<p>My next step was to set up a container so that I could make a mold of my model. Based on the instructions and tips I had been given both by the salesperson at SSC and from the DVD I watched about casting, I made my way to the dollar store for a few supplies. Now what often happens when I try a new media is that I don&#8217;t know exactly what I might need (usually because there are often a few different tutorials I will watch\/read that use slightly different methods to get the same result) so I often buy a few extras on more of a &#8220;Just In Case&#8221; basis rather than strictly following a set list.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 50%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-688 gallery-columns-2 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a title=\"DBTutorial_02\" href='http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-content\/uploads\/DBTutorial_02.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-content\/uploads\/DBTutorial_02-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-703\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-703'>\n\t\t\t\tWhat I thought I might need for my mold container\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a title=\"DBTutorial_03\" href='http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-content\/uploads\/DBTutorial_03.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-content\/uploads\/DBTutorial_03-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-702\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-702'>\n\t\t\t\tWhat I actually used to make my mold container\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>I used most of the materials I thought I would for the mold container, which I made using a tupperware big enough to fit the model, some corrugated plastic (the FOR SALE sign) to create walls even closer to the model so that the mold wouldn&#8217;t be too big or heavy, and then I needed something to go between the two sets of walls (the tupperware and the sign) so I searched through my other art supplies and ended up using little foam sheets, because they were thin and stackable and I could just keep adding them to the gap until I had enough in there to help keep the sign walls from bowing outward once I poured the heavy liquid silicone inside. I used the duct tape to leakproof the mold space, which I then reinforced by gluegun-gluing every edge of ducttape that I thought might let silicone seep under, which was probably not necessary but I sometimes like to take a few extra precautions, especially when I am using a more expensive material that I don&#8217;t want to waste.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of not wasting the silicone, my next step was to try to figure out how much silicone I would need to completely cover the model and make my mold. This was important, as the silicone required a catalyst and so I couldn&#8217;t just keep pouring silicone over it until I had enough, unless I wanted to potentially waste the excess silicone, which would turn into a solid whether it was in the mold container or not &#8211; once you add the catalyst, there&#8217;s no turning back. So I turned to Art&#8217;s silent partner in crime &#8211; Science! &#8211; to help me figure out how much silicone to use. Basically I needed to fill the mold container with a substitute for silicone that would allow me to get a rough idea how much silicone to use, something I could measure to get a more accurate idea of the volume of the empty space in the mold container. Normally I would use water, which is an excellent liquid to use as it doesn&#8217;t react or change most modeling substances, but since I had the clay on a piece of wood, I was worried the wood would get soaked and might somehow affect the silicone setting, so I decided to use salt instead.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 50%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-688 gallery-columns-2 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a title=\"DBTutorial_04\" href='http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-content\/uploads\/DBTutorial_04.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-content\/uploads\/DBTutorial_04-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-714\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-714'>\n\t\t\t\tOrdinary table salt\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a title=\"DBTutorial_05\" href='http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-content\/uploads\/DBTutorial_05.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-content\/uploads\/DBTutorial_05-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-715\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-715'>\n\t\t\t\tSalt in the container\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>After I had filled the container with salt, I carefully poured it into a measuring cup and wrote down how many cups of salt I used. Now this would not give me a perfect answer, because when mixing the silicone and its catalyst, the math uses weight rather than volume and salt has a different density than silicone, but for the purposes of giving me a rough estimate, it was fine. Having some extra silicone was unavoidable, but using the salt allowed me to limit the excess to an acceptable amount.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"How to Try New Media \u2013 Silicone Casting pt 1\" href=\"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/how-to-try-new-media-silicone-casting-pt-1\">Part One: Pick A Project<\/a><br \/>\n<a title=\"How to Try New Media \u2013 Silicone Casting pt 2\" href=\"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/how-to-try-new-media-silicone-casting-pt-2\"><strong>Part Two: Organize Your Steps<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n<a title=\"How to Try New Media \u2013 Silicone Casting pt 3\" href=\"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/how-to-try-new-media-silicone-casting-pt-3\">Part Three: Safety First!<\/a><br \/>\n<a title=\"How to Try New Media \u2013 Silicone Casting pt 4\" href=\"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/how-to-try-new-media-silicone-casting-pt-4\">Part Four: Getting the Details Right<\/a><br \/>\n<a title=\"How to Try New Media \u2013 Silicone Casting pt 5\" href=\"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/how-to-try-new-media-silicone-casting-pt-5\">Part Five: Try Things Out and Evaluate<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>~Sunhawk<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So before I could do any casting, I needed a mold and to make a mold, I needed a model of the artwork I wanted to cast.  Two things I had to keep in mind while I set out to make my model:  1) I needed to use materials that would not reactive negatively with the silicone I was using to make the mold (ie create a chemical reaction that would warp the mold, or use a material that would somehow inhibit the curing of the mold ie it would stay liquid and never become a solid) and 2) I needed to use a material that could capture the level of detail I wanted for the cuff\/bracelets. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[25,27,15,26],"class_list":["post-688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to-guides","tag-casting","tag-dragonscale","tag-how-to","tag-silicone"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=688"}],"version-history":[{"count":45,"href":"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":907,"href":"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688\/revisions\/907"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunhawk.ca\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}