I started working on duck again. Long hiatus, long slump in motivation. I took its wings off and reformed the body a bit. I'm thinking of sweeping the wings forwards more rather than back like in the original body photo. Then I'll have him standing up on his toes strutting his stuff. Maybe support him using tail feathers rather than weak thin feet? The protrusion on the bottom of his back is where the base of his tail is going to come from. All the feathers will attach there so it shouldn't look too weird when finished.
That's more from pouring molds. When joining pieces of wax together like I'm doing here the bubbles come from trapped air between the pieces and incompletely joining them.
I started working on the chicken again. I spent about 20 hrs texturing its comb and putting in wrinkles the way I liked. I added pupils that I'm not thrilled about and did some minor work on the face. Also made quite a few feathers which took a while. I'm going to finish the face completely first then I will go back and attach all the feathers. That way I won't handle the feathers too much and smudge the sharp edges of the feathers. I may cut the legs off at some point and texture them completely.
I think it will too! I do wonder if all the little details will cast in the end. Not likely that I can fix them if they don't come out looking right. I'll probably spend another 10 hr or so fixing the face. Body should be relatively quick now that I've got all the feathers, feet will take a while. And tail may also since I haven't done that before.
Decapitate that bird and run solid investment on the critical sections like the feet and head. You have the skills to weld him back together now. Just choose wisely where you slice him.
I think I'll make solid molds of the dangly chin flesh and feet, maybe wings too. They would be easy to add back in wax. Here is the next installment of details added to face. Still a lot left to do on this side but it gives an idea. We are slowly getting there...
You mean block mold it? Like jewelery investment? I've never tried that before with bronze. Does it give higher detail than ceramic shell? I imagine it would take a long burn out period.
Exactly! Yes, It offers impeccable resolution compared to shell. And you know how good shell can be! Bronze will run just fine with it if you run it with vacuum. If you were to cast that head separately, are you able to reattach it without too much ass pain? I'm sure you're like me and try to eliminate as much bronze chasing as possible. I cannot see having to chase around each of those tiny marks on that head. I'm sure shell would work as usual, but if you are really trying to preserve your hard work, I'd do it hybrid style.
Thanks That's going to be a huge block mold if I cast the whole thing in one go. Maybe the head separately like you said would work but chasing it back on would be a nightmare after I'm done with the feathers. Ideally casting it as one piece would be best. I'll probably have to try several different methods/attempts to get a usable piece. Ceramic shell I think can cast details this fine. When I cast the 3d extrusion screw the little print lines all cast without issue so it definitely has the resolution to do it. I'll give it a try and cross my fingers it works haha.
That is true zap. Shitty print lines easily pick up and even my finger prints have shown up in bronze on occasion. To what quality is unknown...
Started working on the feet. Made some rough feet and started adding details on the one. Will fix them up more tomorrow and then position them after I do the details.
