Bronze Piper II

Chadd · Post by **Chadd** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 10:50 am

This just arrived from the foundry last week:

Jim McGuire · Post by **Jim McGuire** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 12:22 pm

What happened to the Dub with the hat?

Chadd · Post by **Chadd** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 12:52 pm

Jim McGuire wrote:What happened to the Dub with the hat?

I presume he's being cast in Germany by Hans' friend of a friend . This is an unrelated piece I sculpted a couple of months ago as an experiment with a new kind of wax-based clay. It melts and vaporizes at high temperature, allowing a direct cast to be made without the use of an intermediate mold. The tricky thing is you can't use an armature (it would be stuck in the mold once the clay is melted out), so it's a pain in the keister to keep everything from sagging and bending. An intermediate mold could then be made from this bronze for making mutiple castings.

Patrick D'Arcy · Post by **Patrick D'Arcy** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 1:21 pm

Hi Chadd,

I really like the proportions... maybe a bit cartoony but I'll forgive you

Is it a self protrait? Where's the ponytail?

Patrick.

fel bautista · Post by **fel bautista** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 2:15 pm

looks like one of Gabriel's chairs was used for inspiration. Nice job.

Chadd · Post by **Chadd** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 2:34 pm

Patrick D'Arcy wrote:maybe a bit cartoony but I'll forgive you Is it a self protrait?

"The character portrayed herein is fictitious. Any resemblance to any person is coincidental and unintentional." Although I must admit that the pipes are loosely based on my Seth Gallagher C set, but scaled up to make the the proportions more cartoo... I mean, interesting.

fel bautista wrote:looks like one of Gabriel's chairs was used for inspiration.

Good eye, Fel! Gabriel's mushroom chairs were indeed what I had in mind.

fel bautista · Post by **fel bautista** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 9:55 pm

I was going to be the anal-retentive person and ask about the pipes

marcpipes · Post by **marcpipes** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 12:00 am

Chadd,
What is the brand name of this wax/clay? Can it be flame burnished befor casting? Can it be used with investment plaster on a jewelry scale?
It sounds very interesting.
Marc

Jim McGuire · Post by **Jim McGuire** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 12:09 am

Mind you, this hits the mark a bit better than that recent Irish stamp with the female piper and her Bb/A set with the chanter that cannot be covered with human hands!

Chadd · Post by **Chadd** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 10:55 am

marcpipes wrote:What is the brand name of this wax/clay? Can it be flame burnished befor casting? Can it be used with investment plaster on a jewelry scale?

I don't know the brand name. I was given a hunk of the stuff by a sculptor at work who says he has to buy 50 pounds of it at a time. I think the manufacturer is still adjusting the formulation. It is intended to be used with investment plaster and can be flame burnished or melted with heated tools.

Patrick D'Arcy · Post by **Patrick D'Arcy** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 12:05 pm

Incase anyone took my previous past the wrong way... I was only slagging Chadd.... he's an animator thus the cartoon pun

The nose is way too Disney for my taste

Patrick.

Douglas · Post by **Douglas** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 9:06 am

Good job Chadd.

If you have any of the wax/clay left could you bring a piece to the SCUPC gathering sometime? I used to make figures out of wax and I'm curious to see what this is like.

Chadd · Post by **Chadd** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 10:12 am

Patrick D'Arcy wrote:The nose is way too Disney for my taste

This is Los Angeles; I'm sure he can find a good plastic surgeon to take care of that for him. Here are a couple more shots, just for giggles:

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 3:13 pm

Cool stuff Chad.

Chadd · Post by **Chadd** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 11:53 am

A few of the SoCal pipers have expressed interest in having a casting of this piece, so I'm looking into how much it would cost to run a small edition. I'd like to get a head count of how many people might like one so I can get an accurate quote from the foundry. At this point it looks like the per unit cost will probably be under $200. Please email me if you think you'd be interested in one. There's no commitment at this point.

I posted a few more pictures at http://homepage.mac.com/chaddferron/Bro ... lbum5.html
The sculpture is 5.5 inches high. I'm still working on the final patina, so the coloration may be a little different than what you see in these photos. The original is going to be exhibited at the Disney animation studio from July 15th to September 2nd, so I won't be able to make the mold until after that. I would expect the castings to be available in October.