After a little straightening up I cast a plaster block the thickness I wanted to get the depth I want for the lion block. The plaster provides a firm solid surface for the clay, is easy to cast square, and since plaster stays damp a long time after it’s cast, it won’t shrink or bother the clay while I work on it. After applying a layer of clay around all four sides I used a metal carpenters’ square as a scraper to get reasonably 90 degree to the face and back- sides. Doing this also allows for having the clay texture on all the sides with no seam where plaster…

A small bit of progress on this model today, mostly on shaping the far “gear” andthe left lower “wing” I only spent a few minutes on it as I had been working on the little lion block and 3 casts for clients that need to be finished this week to ship them out.