Weedy Sea Dragon

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Austroplatypus
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2023 5:45 am
Model of CNC Machine: Avid CNC
Location: Bellingen, Australia

Weedy Sea Dragon

Post by Austroplatypus »

Well finally got the Weedy Sea Dragon finished. There was some slight clouding on the final pour of coating resin but much of that proved to be amine blush which washed off ok. This was a collaborative project with my partner making the sea dragon out of ceramic and me producing the enclosure for the resin. The fragility of the ceramic sculpture was what prompted the decision to encapsulate it in resin. We have several doors in our house which are fitted with reclaimed portholes and the plan was to put the dragon on the wall behind one porthole so you could see it through the glass. I figured it would look better if the enclosure for it was done in the form of another porthole behind the one in the door so I ended up making a faux bronze enclosure out of 5 rings of 18mm ply - each ring made of 4 quadrants cut on the CNC.
empty enclosure
empty enclosure
It was interesting distressing the enclosure, painting it in a mix of bronze powder and clear acrylic artists medium and then aging it with liver of sulphur.
The details of the final work are:
Name - "Sea Below"; size - 360mm dia x 85mm deep; materials - ceramic sculpture, tinted epoxy resin, plywood enclosure with faux bronze finish.
sea dragon on wall
sea dragon on wall
door closing
door closing
behind door
behind door
Greg
Avid CNC spindle/laser/plasma hybrid

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Todd Bailey
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Re: Weedy Sea Dragon

Post by Todd Bailey »

Over the top!!!! Amazing work!!!

You did a great job hiding the edges of the plywood... any tips?

Really, well done!
------------------------------------
Todd Bailey | Design and Make
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garylmast
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Re: Weedy Sea Dragon

Post by garylmast »

Great Job. I've done quite a few projects where I used powdered bronze metal and resin, but I never heard of liver of sulphur. I think I'll try it and see what it does on some of the projects I've done.

Gary

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Phil
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Re: Weedy Sea Dragon

Post by Phil »

Excellent. :)

Phil

Austroplatypus
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Re: Weedy Sea Dragon

Post by Austroplatypus »

Thanks for the kind comments everyone.
Todd Bailey wrote:
Fri Mar 10, 2023 9:10 am
Over the top!!!! Amazing work!!!

You did a great job hiding the edges of the plywood... any tips?

Really, well done!
Hi Todd - apart from the normal puttying up of voids etc the main thing that I use to conceal the layers of ply is Feast Watson Sanding Sealer. I've found this to be very useful when a smooth, blemish-free surface is needed for susequent treatment such as painting, gilding etc. One coat of sealer is often enough for "normal" timber but ply edges seem to need two. The sealer is supposed to be sanded completely back so that it only remains in the voids/grain and I think this would be important if you were planning on a finish which allowed the grain to show through. However, I only bother sanding enough to get a smooth surface when I'm using an opaque finish.
garylmast wrote:
Fri Mar 10, 2023 2:37 pm
Great Job. I've done quite a few projects where I used powdered bronze metal and resin, but I never heard of liver of sulphur. I think I'll try it and see what it does on some of the projects I've done.

Gary
Hi Gary - liver of sulphur works on copper or alloys containing copper. I started using it when I was working with sterling silver as it is a traditional way of giving that material a patina.
I know people who do cold casting sometimes patina their work but I'm not familiar with their techniques and I haven't tried liver of sulphur on a resin containing powdered metal. However, I have found that when using it on a finish made of say water-based acrylic mixed with powdered metal it must be applied as soon as the "paint" has dried. The liver of sulphur will react less as the surface ages until after an hour or so it will not colour the surface at all. I thought this might simply be due to the acrylic becoming tough enough as it dries to resist the chemical action of the liver of sulphur - shielding as-it-were the surface particles of bronze. However, abrading the hardened surface with steel wool etc does not help so something a bit more complex is going on. Of course the fact that an older surface will not colour means you now have a way to introduce more realistic detail to your work. Simply apply a coat of finish, let harden enough so it won't colour, then apply fresh paint only to those areas you want coloured and apply the liver of sulphur. Voila - bright shiny highlights and dark nooks and crannies - just like a real antique surface.
Greg
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Luvtocarve
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Re: Weedy Sea Dragon

Post by Luvtocarve »

An amazing result from a really cool idea. CNC, ceramic and resin came together in a piece to be proud of. Congrats to you and your partner!
Idea and execution A++. Thanks for sharing.
Steve Harp
Wadsworth, Ohio USA
www.trlw.us

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