YEA! We Have A Pour On The Grambling Tiger
The Grambling Mascot.
If you have been following the foundry process up to now, you have learned about
* The mold making that we did in May, June and July
* The waxes
* The gating up process and dip
* The burn out
and now we get to the exciting thing…. The pour.
When I dropped off the molds for the tiger at Shidoni in NM you may remember that I stayed at Bishops Lodge. I heard people at Bishops Lodge talking about the pour at Shidoni. Apparently Shidoni make this a regular Saturday event and people can come from the local hotels and watch.
A few weeks ago, I was on Facebook and heard that Susan Herndon was performing in the gardens at Shidoni. Then I saw a photo on Facebook of an empty bench with guitar and amps near by. I think the caption on the photo said, “stopping the music to see a pour.” I commented, and sure enough, it was our tiger.
The pour on the tiger will happen many times in the next few weeks. For every wax, that is gated up and burned out there will be a pour of the metal into those pieces. So here are some recent pictures from Shidoni concerning the tiger. I have asked if they can video tape the head being poured. I can’t wait to see that. So stay tuned.
the look of this molten bronze.
wax burned out of them. Now that cavity where the wax
once was will now be filled with molten bronze.
The men wear protective clothing.
that have been or will be- made into wax from the molds, gated up,
burned out, and poured. And we still have a few more steps after this.
A Burn Out At The Foundry
A burn out is when they take the ceramic shell and then “burn out” the wax that is within the shell. That is why this process is often referred to as “the lost wax method of bronze casting.” We will lose the wax in this part and it will be replaced by bronze in the next part. These burn out ovens are some of the largest I have seen.
melt, leaving room for the bronze.
melt, leaving room for the bronze.
Getting To The Tiger YIPPEEE!
Hey, I recognize these piece! Here we have two legs/paws. It is so exciting to see the foundry move from working on the rock to the tiger itself. Wow! They are moving along. I can’t help but wonder if they will make homecoming. Still there are no promises. They said it was a 20% chance, and even if they get finished, I need to go there approve the sculpture, and we need to ship it. So if we are praying for anything pray that “everything ” goes smoothly, even down to the weather when the sculpture is supposed to be in transit.
More exciting pictures to come!
Come And Put Your Head In The Mouth of A Tiger
My work has been accepted into the 3DCAMP Art Show! Well not all of it just the head!
I have just discovered that my tiger will be at the 3DCAMP event scheduled for October 5th. WHAT? Well not the entire 15 foot tiger, but the head. I’ll also have information that demonstrates the 3D process used in making this. You really should come by and see it, and have a picture taken with it.
No baby sacrifice is required, just sign up for a day of fun and brain stimulation at U of H. Here is the website. Oh, and tickets are limited so sign up today. And when you interact with this thing please send me some photographs so I can post them here!
If you would like to see the entire tiger visit the Grambling University Tiger Project blog where I am documenting the entire process. Check out the beginning of the blog to see the digital creation and learn about the CNC milling used to enlarge this beast.
Bridgette Mongeon is a sculptor, writer, illustrator and educator as well as a public speaker.
Her blog can be found at https://creativesculpture.com.
She is the vice chair of the planning committee for 3DCAMP Houston 2012 http://www.3dcamphouston.com
She is also the owner and creator of the God’s Word Collectible Sculpture series http://www.godsword.net
Follow the artists on twitter twitter.com/Sculptorwriter and twitter.com/creategodsword
Listen to The Creative Christian Podcast or the Inspiration/Generation Podcast
Click on Podcast Host Bios for a list of all podcasts.
Help With A Creative Adventure
As I posted in a previous post, I am writing a book Tra-digi-2014 Sculpture: Using 3d software, milling, scanning and printing in art and craft. In one section of the book I am interested in documenting how to scan things in nature and then create 3d objects in the computer that fit into nature. I suppose I was first introduced to this incredible concept by an online video that I found and played at 3DCAMP Houston 2012. The video created by Greg Petchovsky takes objects in the real world and then recreates them or adds to them in a 3D program and then prints them out using a 3Dprinter.
A rather industrious project that I am trying to do and to record for the book is to create a home in a hole in my tree. I have scanned the tree using 123D catch and would love to be able to get what I need from using just that program, as it is extremely easy to use and free. Free is good because it is not a stumbling block to the readers of the book. I do plan on scanning it with my Next Engine Scanner as well. It will be interesting to see exactly what I will need to complete this project.
I’m going to contact Greg and ask him some of my questions. I will also be looking for printing companies that can help me create this piece for the book, yes, I am happy to plug your company. I’ll include Greg’s video below as well as a short clip of my results from 123D Catch and ZBrush.
Like I need to make this job any harder, I also hope to create some interaction with the piece. That means that I want to hide sensors, lights … so that things that will happen when one walks by. Now to do this part I plan on contacting my resources at TX RX to help me figure out the electronics, and I’m sure that trying to hide these things in channels in the artwork will also pose a challenge.
I won’t be able to update my process on this project here, as I don’t want to spoil it for those wanting to read the book. If you should be able to help with any of my questions, suggestions or thoughts please contact me through my contact form on my website or through facebook.
Video by Greg Petchovsky
Video of my scan and ZBrush
Questions
How do you see the color when it is in Zbrush, as Greg has in the video?
Where did Greg have his printed, in what machine?
What is the stability of the color and what products can work outside?
Any secrets to how to get the size to match. I’m back to the idea that Zbrush really needs real sizes.
Zbrush- is there away to create an object that will fit in the hole of the tree, and perhpas use a mask and visibility to get rid of the areas that are not needed?
Bridgette Mongeon is a sculptor, writer, illustrator and educator as well as a public speaker.
Her blog can be found at https://creativesculpture.com.
She is the vice chair of the planning committee for 3DCAMP Houston 2012 http://www.3dcamphouston.com
She is also the owner and creator of the God’s Word Collectible Sculpture series http://www.godsword.net
Follow the artists on twitter twitter.com/Sculptorwriter and twitter.com/creategodsword
Listen to The Creative Christian Podcast or the Inspiration/Generation Podcast
Click on Podcast Host Bios for a list of all podcasts.
Moving Along at Shidoni Art Foundry
Here are some more pictures from Shidoni Art Foundry. If you remember, in a previous blog post the Foundry poured wax into all of the molds that we sent them. There are many. Once the waxes are poured they are gated up. Each of the pieces needs a pour cup and sprues. The pour cup will be where metal is poured. The wax spures or gates are channels where the gases can escape. Later the cups and spures will be cut away. We saw this in the last post as well. Now, all of these wax pieces need to be dipped in slurry mixture.
Each piece is on a pulley system, that is because they are so large. Each is carried through the wax area on this system and then lowered into the dip. Then it is covered with a sand mixture to create a ceramic shell. There are many coats of this mixture that must go on each wax piece and each piece must dry at a certain temperature. If they don’t create these shells correctly then when they try to pour the molten bronze in them later, they could break. These are all part of the rock that the Tiger climbs on. They are pretty big.
Look What I Found On The Grambling University Website
When I spoke to the University this week I was told that everyone wanted to know where to find the blog about the making of their tiger. I guess some still don’t know that there is blog at http://www.gramblingtiger.blogspot.com that has been dedicated to just the making of the tiger. My university contact said they will try to put the link of the tiger project blog on the front page of the website. I went there today and didn’t find that, but I did find a link to the “Campus Beautification Project.” Further digging gave me a slide show of the dedication of the space for the tiger. Seems like there are others getting ready, other than us at Bridgette Mongeon Sculpture Design Studios in Houston, Texas and Shidoni Foundry in New Mexico.
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| I suppose this was from the dedication. There is my presentation of the tiger . |
Will We See The Tiger For Homecoming?
This is a question that everyone is asking. I have just sent Shidoni Foundry an e mail and asked them the same question. It means that they would need to finish the sculpture by the middle of October so that I can go to see the metal and approve the sculpture for patination, the coloring.
I have told Grambling, “Lets not sacrifice the art for the deadline, but we will do everything we can.” If Shidoni can make this deadline I will say it is a miracle, but they have a lot of people and are making headway, so stay tuned!
Update From The Foundry- Waxes
If you have been following along with the sculpting process of the Grambling State University Tiger then you know that the molds have been taken to Shidoni Foundry in New Mexico at the end of July and they are now being worked on there.
The first step to the mold making process is the wax. If you refer back to the mold making process you will find that there were rubber molds made of every piece of the sculpture. These rubber pieces were covered in a fiberglass mother mold. Now, the inside of each of these molds must be painted with wax.
I figured the foundry would start with the massive rocks, and I was right. The wax is painted into the mold and then each mold section must be gated up. Gates and pour cups give the metal a channel to flow through and allow the gasses to escape to give a clean pour.
Shidoni is known for their monumental sculptures and creates larger bronze pieces. I was curious about the metal bars on the waxes. In my 30 years of working in bronze I have never seen that. I contacted the manager to ask him to define the process.
A New Book—A Resource Book For Those Creating Physical Objects Using 3D Technology!
I’m working on a new book
Tra-digi-2014 Sculpture:
Using 3d software, milling, scanning and printing in art and craft.
At least that is what the book is called at this moment.
A single source for incorporating 3D printing, 3D scanning and 3D milling into your art.
Tra-digi 2014—Sculpture: How to use 3D printing, milling and scanning in art and craft
- Do you want a 3D model of your child for your computer? Here is how to do it for free.
- Do you want to take a virtual sculpture and make it into a 3D print in clay, metal or even glass? Here are the steps, tools and resources to do just that.
- Have you thought of carving your ideas into wood, or stone but you can’t hold a hammer and mallet?
- Do you want to take a small sculpture made by hand and enlarge it to a monumental piece of art?
- Would you like to have a digital scan of your surroundings?
With the steps in Tra-digi 2014-Sculpture you can expand your medium as an artist, save yourself time in the traditional bronze casting and enlarging process. This give you more time to create!
But beware, there are some pitfalls, some hurtles and legalities associated with using traditional and digital processes. Learn how to protect yourself and your art as you create new masterpieces that could never be created before.
Bridgette Mongeon is a sculptor, writer, illustrator and educator as well as a public speaker.
Her blog can be found at https://creativesculpture.com.
She is the vice chair of the planning committee for 3DCAMP Houston 2012 http://www.3dcamphouston.com
She is also the owner and creator of the God’s Word Collectible Sculpture series http://www.godsword.net
Follow the artists on twitter twitter.com/Sculptorwriter and twitter.com/creategodsword
Listen to The Creative Christian Podcast or the Inspiration/Generation Podcast
Click on Podcast Host Bios for a list of all podcasts.