Week Three - Casting up the Fox - Part Three

After about 30 mins I pulled the sides off the mould and left the casting to set for a further 30 minutes before carefully removing all of the clay.

With all the clay removed I was left with what you see bellow, the cast of the top half of fox and the remaining half, that I will be cast up now. Luckily when removing the clay the maquette didn't shift once so it's firmly in place and the seams should be pretty good.

The only problem with using clay, is that it transfers very easily onto the plasticine I used to make the maquette. To removed this clay I used a small, soft bristled brush that is slightly damp with clean water. I simply just worked the brush over the surface of the maquette, carefully wetting and removing the clay, giving the results you see in the pictures bellow on one of the rear legs.

 I proceeded to do this with the rest of the maquette, making sure not to touch/change the areas around where the seam will be. I was surprised how well and easy it was to clean up.

With the maquette cleaned up and ready to cast, again, I reattached the sides, making sure this time that I used enough clay on the edges so that the sides won't slip/fall off this time. Using some excess clay I made small raised areas, these would be used as leverage points making it easier to separate the mould once the foam latex is inside.

 I finally coated the whole inside of the mould with soft soap and poured in the plaster.

 After 30 minutes I removed the sides and this how I ended the day on Tuesday, fingers crossed it turns out ok as I've yet to separate the mould to check the casting.