Resin and bronze powder casting
I was going to cast this in Hydroshrink first (more about that later on when I get some more ordered) but when I went to open the container, it had solidified. So… on to Plan B which I was going to do anyway – Cold Cast Bronze.
Cold cast bronze is a casting using real bronze powder mixed with resin or another medium to give you a real bronze surface without all the expense of having it cast at a foundry. I’ve done one before after taking a workshop on it, but unfortunately, this time it didn’t work out so well.
You can find the detailed instructions that are basically what I followed at sculpt.com. They also sell all the materials you’d need to do it, sculpting tools, videos, etc, etc – anything related to sculpting, The Compleat Sculptor has it.
I think the problem was that my resin wasn’t mixed well enough. I put the bronze powder in Part B of the resin, along with a bit of black tint, mixed that, then added Part A and mixed again… The bronze forms a heavy sludge at the bottom though and I was mixing it in a plastic cup which had an odd shaped bottom. I poured that batch of resin in, but there were some lumpy bits of bronze powder that kind of plopped in at the end. I then mixed up a bit more resin without the bronze powder to fill the rest of the mold. That’s the shiny black surface you see on the top (what will be the back of the casting).
I could tell it was still squishy in the middle after an hour so I left it overnight but no luck. This is what I ended up with. Areas of pure bronze powder and areas of sticky, unset resin, in between cured layers. The back layer cured completely so it didn’t seem to be the resin itself.
Better luck next time (and I DID have better luck on the next one). So, I guess this is a good reminder not to give up on the first setback .
Partially cured resin - still sticky after sitting overnight