Vacation Pictures

So I had 8 days off from my full time job. Most of which I intended to devote to this BJD project. Admittedly, the first half of my time off I spent playing video games, watching shows and hanging out with friends. I did a bit of mold and casting work but the bulk of the work I did in these last few days. The good news is (not that this all not good news) is that I finished my molds and had successful resin casting. I wanted to update this blog and my journey (because it's been a hell of a learning trip) but never made time to until now.

Here are pictures of where I'm at.

Face-Up with gesso and Tombow markers and sponges.

I have mostly been an illustrator with an alignment to comic books growing up so I think my BJD is naturally looking like my drawings. :D While I'm glad for this I'm not sure how popular it will be for a potential buyer? Hopefully good! Sell-able even. Either way I'm having fun. 

Here is the first casting next to the master sculpt. The texture of the brush on gesso skin is rough compared to traditional Asian BJD's with their pre-resin skin. I will look into doing my own pre-colored resin skin when time and money permit but other wise I wil continue to experiment with the materials I am comfortable with. 

 

Here is the "graveyard pile". :D Well, for every failed test casting comes an opportunity to test mediums on resin. I learned the hard way that Testor's Lacquer Primer for model cars etc. is a bad idea.

 Pictures of mold making along with completed molds. I have read many artists call their molds their babies and now I can finally the same. MY BABIES!!! 

Some important key notes I learned the hard way:

- Pour very slowly in a very thin flow for perfect casts. If not enough resin for the entire mold just pour another small batch. Better not enough resin than too much wasted resin. After 2-3 minutes, Smooth-On 300 starts to harden and thicken right away which thickens the pour and clogs the hole for a perfect cast.

- If excess resin pour into blank cavity molds for a future casting.

- I was casting in 50-60 degree weather with the windows open where perhaps at night it went down to 40 degrees. The resin and the mold became cold and ruined the chemical reaction creating a transparent rubbery casting.

- ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS read safety precautions of resin and silicone. They are CHEMICALS. I ignored the warning labels and through out my experience got a terrible skin rash that spread all over my body. The rash flared with stress and I thought it was simply caused by stress. Where in fact I failed to wear proper gloves and long sleeves at first. Now my rashes are healing. I also don't forget to wear face masks now when drilling resin etc.

 And finally, here are some quotes I kept near me during this 5 month journey to encourage me. :D Although it's not over and I have even more project ideas coming to mind, it's been fun (is fun) all the while.

Muah! ♥ 

~ Mike