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Tiny horses

One thing leads to another. I went to New Mexico specifically to learn how to make SOAP molds, but somehow that led to an obsession with the Lewis Chessmen, and while thinking of things I might like to 3D print or cast in resin, I started thinking about chess sets in general. Also: my artist friend suggested that my 3D prints will be better if I have some experience with sculpture, even if I’m not very good.

So what should I sculpt? The absolute easiest thing for me is going to be horses. I drew only ONE thing as a child and it was horses 24/7.

I took some polymer clay I had sitting around and some j-mac oil-based modeling clay I was given and went at it.

  • First pony
  • Another of polymer clay
  • Many horse heads
  • A chess knight or a sea monster?

I first made a few reclining ponies. They are quite small – so small that I had difficulty handling them. The first is made of j-mac and the smaller one of translucent polymer clay. I was thinking of making them into netsuke – these are carved buttons or toggles that are worn with kimono.

Next I started thinking about designing my own chess set and I spent a while looking at classic sets and some 3D printed models. Except for the knight, most chess pieces look like they are turned on a lathe, but the knight is special and asymmetric. For my very first try (back left in the collection) I went for something semi-realistic, but then I thought a much more stylized version might be fun. At the end I started going for something like an ancient bronze statue I’d seen before.

Something like this

When I took that basic shape and made it less flat, I think my result looks more like a sea serpent with a mane, but I still like it.

The polymer clay is easy to smooth and overall easy to work with but it is difficult to get fine detail. The j-mac takes detail but I haven’t yet figure out how to get my toolmarks and fingerprints off the model. I also need to figure out how to stop dropping them while i’m working.

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Lewis Chessmen

While learning how to make molds I became accidentally obsessed with the Lewis Chessmen.  We saw them first two years ago on our trip to Scotland and I tried to 3-D print one to make a test mold out of when I went to NM.  The 3-D print wasn’t detailed enough and soon after I discovered that I could purchase pre-made molds.  They are latex, not especially durable, and  I’m a bit afraid to cast resin in them.  I ruined one already by trying to cast wax into it and then couldn’t get the wax back out again. 

The originals are from the 12C and were discovered on the Island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.  There are 78 chess pieces in total.

Some of the original chessmen in Edinburgh.  
A bishop.  One of my molds includes this particular figure.
A berzerker.  This would take the place of a Rook.  I LOVE him.  Alas, he is not included in my set of molds.
The sets were originally white (walrus ivory) and red (paint).  I’m tryint to re-create that original look.
Playing around some more with warmer/cooler casts and one silver-on-black just to see how it looks.

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Mold Making

Last week I went to visit a friend in Albuquerque and pick his brain about how to make molds for soap and resin casting.  There was a LOT of information all at once and I’m still organizing it in my mind.  Here are some of the photos I took during the workshop.

I have workshop envy

This is the shop where he makes his molds.  Lately he’s been moving more into metal casting than resin, and one March (this year or next) I may come to a metal-casting workshop.  In the back notice the very large mold of the very, very large horny-toad.  I loved that sculpture.  On the back wall there is also a nice mold of the classic archaeopteryx fossil.  I would have taken a casting of that if I’d had space for it in my luggage.  As it was, I barely fit the molds I made myself plus the LARGE quantity of hot green chili I brought back.

 

 

 

 

 

Platsil 73-25 2-part mold silicone. And Nathan’s cool tray to allow it to pour more easily.

Vacuum de-gasser. We only used this once but I think it did reduce bubbles in the silicone

Some molds poured, other forms waiting to be set up.

Shapes glued down and ready for the mold form to go around it. I used cups or PVC for the round ones and foam-core board and hot glue for the rectangular one.

Lizard on a bed of clay ready for mold material to be painted on. This will be a 2-part mold.

 

 

Completed molds are trimmed and dusted with talc so they don’t pick up dust and dog hair.

Nathans epic $100 variable temperature glue gun. The glue sticks are a foot long and 1cm wide.

 

Completed chess mold after the 3D printed original was removed.

Heating wax to pour a shape that can be sculpted more

The final array. Everything I brought back with me: molds, originals, casts in resin, wax and plaster, extra wax and some new sculpting tools.

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3-D printing

I’m getting ready to make some silicone molds for soaps and here are my first prototypes for the designs I want to use.  A trilobite, a ‘white lotus’ from Avatar the Last Airbender and the BAT SIGNAL.  The last one is because I’ve really wanted to make a menthol-peppermint soap and call it “HOLY MENTHOL, BATMAN!!”

 

Trilobite (Girl Genius) and White Lotus (Avatar: the Last Airbender)

Trilobite on a plaster cast of a 4oz round soap.

The bat signal!

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Wrecked Ships

I mentioned the abandoned ships north of Jetty Island recently and discovered that a friend had never noticed them before.  They were sunk to try to divert water in the channel back when ‘they’ were trying to turn the Snohomish south to make Everett a freshwater port.  That failed, but the ships remain.

I took these photos 2 years ago when I paddled out to see them with a friend.

Jetty Island

Paddling among the ships

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Cross Stitch Patterns

I do not cross stitch myself, but I have a friend who does, and who has clever ideas, and I have images that I want to see get out into the world.

I spent about a week trying to find ways to convert images into cross stitch patterns using online tools, then GIMP, then Excel, then Gimp Plugins.  Here are some of my preliminary results.

The octo-gear needs a simpler color scheme and to be made smaller.  I think the owl needs more contrast but the rocket turned out well.

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Tall Ships

If anyone is going to be in Kirkland, WA this week, the tall ships, the Lady Washington, and the Hawaiian Chieftain are there.  Tours are $5, sailing trips and battle sail trips are also available.  My daughter is on the crew so we popped down on their day off to deliver a care package and provide a dog for the crew to pet.

The Lady Washington is a period reproduction and has appeared in many movies, most notably, she is “the Interceptor” from Pirates of the Caribbean.

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Funnel Pour Test

Just a quick post today.  My first attempt at a “funnel pour” using one of my standard recipes and Frankincense and Myrrh fragrance oil.  The black is activated charcoal while the yellow is the natural color of the soap.  I expect it to morph into a tan as it cures.

Also check out my new silicone molds from Brambleberry.

Update – the soap is now cut

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Sunday Soaps – Experiments

I ordered new supplies recently and got new things to experiment with!  When the rest of the order comes in I will try a hand at making solid conditioner bars, a syndet* shampoo and some oil cleanser.

But first, here’s what I tried today.

I got a free sample of a nice floral fragrance called “Midnight Waters”, just enough for a 1 pound batch.  I made a simple coconut soap with coconut milk and tried to color it purple.  The fragrance discolored a bit tan so my base purple was crowded out, but since things were moving slowly I tried to add a purple line and colored the top pale green.  I’m quite pleased with the result

This glorious purple mica was overwhelmed by the FO discoloration

Bars after unmolding and cut. The purple line looks great. I’ve never tried one before.

Then I tried two shampoo bars.  One is my favorite coconut recipe but I wanted to try it again with the addition of apple cider vinegar and citric acid.  The next was a very different recipe with 6-oils that also includes apple cider vinegar.

Cider vinegar in the lye does not make for an attractive color.

I scented one with ylang-ylang and bergamot essential oils and the other with a green tea fragrance oil.

Coconut shampoo on the left, 6-oil shampoo on the right.

*But wait, I hear you say.  What is a syndet bar? The shampoo bars I’ve made so far are all true soaps.  That means they are made by reacting lye with fatty acids from plants or animals and you get a high-pH solid soap at the end. Your hair has a natural pH on the acid side and some (but not all) shampoos you can buy commercially make a big deal out of matching the pH of the shampoo to your hair.  It’s unclear to me if this is really beneficial or a marketing ploy (I suspect the latter), but I do notice that when I use my soap-shampoo that every week or two I like to use a cider vinegar rinse that seems to remove some build up.  (It will also de-scum your bathtub!)

If you try to add acid to soap to lower the pH below around 8, you will undo the chemical reaction that makes it soap and be left with a pile of fatty acids.

Enter ‘synthetic detergents’.  This is what nearly all commercial shampoos are made of.  They can have a pH anywhere from about 4 to 8 or 9 but they stay detergents, and will still clean, even with a lower pH.

Lush makes shampoo bars by pressing detergent noodles into a mold along with some other ingredients and I’m going to have a go at that and see if like it any better than my soap-based shampoo.