Page 26 - Casting of Angels- Dave Parvin

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or you may remove the skin texture. To prevent the surface
from slowly darkening over time, spray on either matte or
glossy clear acrylic. Paste wax can be applied as well, if you
desire. The base and the copper pipe were polished the same
way except that a black patina solution was used.
To attach the head to the base I drilled 3/4-inch holes into
the foam in the head and into the base and epoxyed the all
thread into the head at the right angle. As soon as it was secure
I slid over the all thread a piece of copper pipe, which had
been cut so as to be just long enough, to go from the foam to
the base covering up the all thread. Since the all thread was
glued to the foam only it was necessary to attach it more
securely to the head. This was done by turning the head upside
down and pouring several cups of plain Forton MG with
fiberglass over the foam and then spreading it from the pipe to
the sides. Once secure, the bottom end of the all thread was
glued into the base and a piece of self-sticking felt was
attached to the bottom.
There are some other things that I could have done
with the mold rather than directly cast the head in metallic
#15 The Finished head in the round
Forton MG. For example as I said at the beginning of this
article, I could have cast it in plaster and given it a faux

finish. Or I could have cleaned up the plaster and made a
secondary mold in silicone rubber and then cast the final
piece in Forton MG or any number of resins from metallic
to clear. If for some reason I wanted or needed to do major
rework to the head, I could have cast it in melted oil based
clay as shown in photograph #16. In this case I changed the
expression, removed some small wrinkles making her look
younger, opened the eyes, and completely reworked the
hair. I then made a mold of the reworked head in silicone
rubber and cast the final piece (not shown) in metallic
Forton MG.
The special effects industry regularly casts entire
heads as an intermediate step in making costume masks
usually a skull-cap is fitted on the actor to cover up the hair.

#16 A head that was cast in melted oil base clay and then This simplifies the casting and allows for the use of skin
significantly resculpted. safe silicone rubber, which clings to hair much more
tenaciously than alginate. (See (How to Cast a Ballerina's
The solution was to drill 3/4-inch holes and use a piece of 3/4 Foot," by yours truly, SJ, Jan, 2005). The advantage of this
inch all thread, 1 foot long, to connect the two parts. The 3/4 rubber is that the mold can be used over and over and stored
inch all thread just happens to fit inside 3/4 inch copper pipe for years.
which covered up the threads and made it look as if the head A head in the round might be a little intimidating for
were attached by the copper pipe. Photograph #11 shows the someone just starting life casting. But I would encourage
parts ready for assembly. giving it a try. It might take you to a whole new level.
Metallic Forton MG reacts more intensely to patina
solutions the newer the casting is. Since I wanted the hair to be
more green than the skin, the day after making the casting, I
applied the patina solution to the hair. (Photograph #12). David Parvin is a Colorado sculptor whose primary
While still wet, I rubbed the hair with steel wool. The tiny subject is the human form in a variety of materials. He
pieces of steel wool, left on the hair, add an antique rusty also teaches life casting workshops held throughout the
color. It is best to allow the head to cure for at least three days year. He may be reached at 303-321-1074.
before applying the patina solution to the skin parts. If the
solution beads up, and doesn't want to evenly coat the surface,
add a small amount of liquid detergent. As soon as the skin
shows any sign of turning green, rinse off the surface and S c u l p t u r e Jo urn al – March 200 5
allow the head to dry. Using the finest steel wool, "0000", go
over the entire head and remove excess green. It is best to do
this outside as the dust contains chlorine and is not good for
your lungs. Do not remove all the green nor try to actually
polish the surface with the steel wool; rather use a cloth
buffing wheel with the buffing compound. Do not over polish