The birth of Bruce


1. My original carving about 4.5" or so.


2. I laminated sheets of blue foam to the height I wanted the new bear to be.


3. ...and started hacking at it with anything and everything.
4. After carving, I coated it with a latex sealer.

5. Then coated it with 4 coats of liquid rubber...
6. ...tinting every second coat to insure proper coverage.

7. Now the hard part begins - making the mother mold which is necessary because when you remove the rubber, this is what happens and how on earth could you pour any casting material into it?

8. I drew dividing lines on the rubber in sections where there were no undercuts because the mother mold is hard plastic and will not give when removed. I made 5 sections.
On the dividing line between section 1 and 2, I built a wall of clay because the plastic mother mold will not adhere to clay.
9. For my shell, I use a hard plastic and build it up at least 1/2" but thicker near the walls so they may later be screwed together. Plaster can also be used for this shell but my opinion is it is not strong enough to be used over and over.
Once each section is dry, I use a release agent between sections so that each section of molding material will not stick to each other. Important step!

10. Once all sections have been applied and dried to a hard shell, screws should be placed through all adjoining walls so when the shell is removed, it will have register holes to easily put together each time. Remove the screws, remove all sections of plastic shell and remove entire rubber mold.
11. Now with the limp rubber off the bear, the hard shell can be screwed
back together and placed upside down....

12. The rubber mold now has a stabilizing shell. Sides of the rubber may have to be lightly clamped to the sides to prevent them from collapsing. The rubber may now be lined with resin, fiberglass, plaster or expanding foam, but that's another process in itself. I prefer to use ployresin with a slow drying time. I actually roll the shell from side to side until it is entirely coated about 1/2" with resin then I backfill it with expanding foam.
13. Once filled, all of the molds can be removed and a casting is ready to paint and inset eyes etc.