Käthe Kollwitz Transcription- Casting.

My notes from the last week have been dismal, a very rough week for me personally and equally as busy.

We started with a thin coat of the silicon (10-1 of silicon and fast acting catalyst) and pouring this on the clay from around a foot to prevent air bubbles.

After this initial thin layer had dried (left overnight) we started on the next, thicker layers. These were a 100-10-1 mix of silicon, fast cat, and fixo, respectively. This was applied with a spatula in circular motions to prevent air bubbles. This was time consuming process with lots of waiting around for layers to dry. Once the majority of the silicon was on we used a dampened tissue to push any air bubbles out and clean up the layer. We repeated the coat with the fixo 4 times to make sure all sections were strong and there we no undercuts the master cast would catch on. Once all these layers were completed we placed keys on the back so the backing would locate and then cut keys around the sides as well.

The next day, after the silicon had fully dried, we started on the jesmonite backing, this was a fairly simple process of pouring the jesmonite directly on the silicon and making sure it was well coated before laying down the jesmonite-scrim between the layers. After 3 layers it was completed and we waited for it to dry before doing a plaster cast.

The next day we pulled all the clay out and cleaned the moulds before doing an initial plaster cast. Which came out very well. I’m very happy with the mould.

Sadly the wax came out very badly as it was too hot and bubbles were all over it. So will be returning this week to try that again.