I cast a 2nd winged griffin, so I have a pair, needing to clean this one up, attach the wings prime and paint it. I’ll be making a mold of the base “rock” to-morrow. I have enough resin to cast one more. The first pair will be going on my front step, the 3rd cast will be in inventory for sale, these will be sold with an acid stained concrete base they attach to which will help keep them standing in the garden or indoors with a nice heavy base. Prices include shipping and the base, the wings will be attached with bolts like the original 1870s iron ones were,…
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Winged griffin after Hecla iron works
I am pleased with how this turned out, they need a base of some kind and I havent been able to find just the right one, but that rock in the photo is just about right, so I may very well make a mold of it and cast it in acid stained concrete so these can be mounted to them and be securely standing upright. Cut stone is very expensive, about $150 each plus shipping, the landscaping blocks you see out there are all concrete and the wrong size and so forth, so it leaves making them myself. I will probably have these winged griffins with a base for $375…
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Winged griffin after Hecla iron works
The first black resin cast of the winged dragon is out of the mold, looks very good! after the seam lines get sanded down and it gets surface cleaning to remove any oily release agent, it can be primed with black primer and painted gloss black, but that will be after the wings are made and attached with stainless steel machine screws first. It took exactly 8 quarts.
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Winged dragon after Hecla iron works, about to cast.
With the mold now ready to use, I ordered the black resin, 4 gallons worth, if I’m lucky I might get 2 complete casts out of that, or I could be a quart or two short, either way it will be close. I don’t expect the resin to get here this week, most likely next Monday/Tuesday. More photos etc then, I will also have a better idea what time and materials it will take for each and I can calculate prices on these as well as get photos of a finished cast.
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Winged griffin, after Hecla Iron Works progress
I have all 3 molds for this design completed, the largest one- for the griffins’ body is still drying it’s plaster support shell. Soon I will order the black resin needed and can make a couple of test casts. I calculated it will take 7 quarts to fill the body mold and 1-2 quarts for the wings, the resin is not inexpensive!
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Winged griffin, after Hecla Iron Works progress
The 2nd wing mold is now finished, and ready to start the mold for the body of the griffin himself. With the plaster model inside the box built for this, it will have to be embedded halfway with clay and the first half of the rubber portion brushed on with multiple applications, and a plaster shell poured over that. Once the plaster hardens, the box and the clay gets removed and the second half of the rubber mold brushed on, the sides of the box get strapped together to surround the sides, and the 2nd half of the plaster mold made. The box is about 28″ long, 9″ deep, 14″…
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Artifact of the month (January 2020)
Circa 1903 roundel with a deep relief female portrait bust wearing long hair, a necklace and lace garment, laurel and oak leaves flank the figure, each element has a symbolic meaning and purpose. The laurel leaves symbolize victory while the oak leaves symbolize strength. So this female figure was associated with victory and strength. Terracotta 25″ across, purchased from an antique store on Bleecker Street in 2009 for $1350. The roundel, which was salvaged in the 1950s from the Lower East Side was probably from a tenement East of Avenue D when the city built the “Projects,” originally she likely had a separate border made of six sections.…
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Sculpture of the week (January 7th, 2020)
Grotesque Keystone Nr 285 Kiln Fired Terracotta The keystone that provided the original to make the mold from came from 705 -707 East 5th Street, Manhattan, pictured below in 1975; The original ca 1905 keystone was made from white terracotta and just the grotesque mask upper half was used; Like the original, my red terracotta is hand-pressed and kiln fired, these can be used outdoors in the garden or built into a brick or stone wall. The entire block of buildings on East 5th Street was demolished in the 1980s. To purchase one of my kiln fired keystones; Grotesque Keystone Nr 285 Kiln Fired Terracotta Copyright © 2020 Randall’s…
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Sculpture of the week (December 17th, 2019)
Art Deco Chanin Building Panel D10 “Enlightenment” To purchase a cast of this sculpture; Art Deco Chanin Building Panel D10 “Enlightenment” HISTORY of the building The 56 story tall Chanin Building is a brick and terra-cotta skyscraper located at 122 East 42nd Street, at the corner of Lexington Avenue, in Manhattan. Built by Irwin S. Chanin in 1929 It was designed by Sloan & Robertson in the Art Deco style, with the assistance of Chanin’s own architect Jacques Delamarre, and it incorporates architectural sculpture by noted sculptor Rene Paul Chambellan. In the lobbies, eight bronze reliefs designed by Rene Paul Chambellan are inset in the walls above ornate…
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Sculpture of the week (December 3rd, 2019)
This attractive repeating Art Deco design originally was made in individual nickel plated bronze pieces. The pieces when bolted together formed a repeating motiff lintel across the top of the interior entrance doorway of the Women’s House of Detention. The Jail was located at 6th Ave behind the present day Jefferson Market Public Library which was originally a courthouse. The New York Women’s House of Detention is believed to have been the world’s only art deco prison. It was designed by Sloan and Robertson in 1931 and opened to the public with a luncheon on March 29, 1932. The courthouse, and jail, the latter which was subsequently opened in 1934…