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This is an original technique I use for making portrait busts out of grout. Grout is like cement, except it is stickier and doesn't shrink. When cement dries it shrinks and tends to crack, which the grout does not do.
To make the finished bust lighter I use a mold to make crumpled aluminum foil cores. The cores can be bent some to give position variations.
The grout I use, "Keraset", comes in a light gray color. The grout can be given a variety of colors, depending on the addition of powdered pigments. The pigments are available in hardware stores for coloring cement. Right now, I am mostly making clay-colored grout using a combination of red and yellow pigments.
To make the finished bust lighter I use a mold to make crumpled aluminum foil cores. The cores can be bent some to give position variations.
The grout I use, "Keraset", comes in a light gray color. The grout can be given a variety of colors, depending on the addition of powdered pigments. The pigments are available in hardware stores for coloring cement. Right now, I am mostly making clay-colored grout using a combination of red and yellow pigments.
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Signing UpStep 1The Mold
The 2-piece mold was made out of cement many years ago, and I don't have photos of its construction.
The core shape was originally sculpted in clay. Using mold-making techniques, I made a 2-piece mold of the shape.
The left and right halves of the core are molded out of crumpled aluminum foil. The halves are then taped together. The neck can be bent to provide position variations.
The core shape was originally sculpted in clay. Using mold-making techniques, I made a 2-piece mold of the shape.
The left and right halves of the core are molded out of crumpled aluminum foil. The halves are then taped together. The neck can be bent to provide position variations.
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So, that being said, how "workable" is the grout after it's cured? Can it be sanded at all? I was leaning toward Bondo, but it's pricey! Any suggestions?
You obviously know a bit about sculpting.
Could you make a figurine and show me/us how to make a mould for the figurine. Im totally lost when it comes to moulding, however I am good at the 'pour', if ya know what I mean.
thnx
Making a figurine is one thing. Making a mold of it is another. The kind of mold you make depends on the position of the figure, for one thing. A complex position calls for a more advanced mold making technique -- using more than two mold parts, or a flexible inner mold with a rigid outer mold shell.
Try to avoid undercut areas that would hang up a rigid mold. For that you need a flexible mold.
I suggest you start with simple shapes with two-part molds. I used to make figurines out of clay. Cut pieces of acetate and stick them into the clay to represent the part line. You can use acetate to fuse the pieces together. Plaster one side, remove the acetate, apply mold release, and plaster the remaining side. It helps to put registration dimples in the acetate with heat and a round object, and wedge holes in the part line for sticking a wedge in to help pry the mold halves apart.
Dipping would be a good way to make mini-caves with stalactites and maybe stalagmites. The stalagmites could always be made separately and inverted when finished.
An interesting choice with grout, an artist at sculpting and timing.
Bust sculpting is due for a revival.
Bust sculpting also has some social benefits -- a model to talk with while you work.
I occasionally model my projects in clay and use newspaper, foil, or wire mesh as structures, but for larger models your method might work very well - I have no means to bake clay to a carve-able state, so I either use air-dry or low-heat dry base. Maybe grout would work better...
A big advantage to grout sculpture is that you don't have to fire it, so you save energy and can make things larger than the kiln needed to fire clay pieces.
Since cement shrinks, you can't put unshrinking things, like glass bottles, in it or the cement will crack. Unshrinking grout gets around that problem. Mostly, I use light-weight core materials, like plastic bottles, Styrofoam, or aluminum foil.