The casting process for the Greek Hoplite helmet was new to me and was pretty arduous from start to finish. It started off with a clay shape, over which was built a microcrystalline wax shell from a plaster negative mould. The wax version was then dipped in a liquid ceramic that had to be stirred in a big vat by hand and the whole of the mixture had to be fully liquified so no lumps were left or the batch would be ruined. I remember it took about twenty minutes to fully stir it, always feeling for lumps by hand. It was freezing cold and I remember how achy it made my hands. A fine powder then had to be sifted over it and allowed to dry for a day. That process was repeated each day until a solid shell of ceramic that looked like frost encased the wax (making a surprisingly beautiful object itself). That case included the helmet itself and additional runners and risers (seen in these images like a bizarre crest) to pour molten bronze into which would vaporise the wax so it escapes out of the cast ceramic tube like a chimney. While that daily process was going on I reused the wax lined plaster shell to pour casting resin in to build a lightweight fibreglass version, which was also new to me. It was modelled here by Andy and Patrick (who were the “long haired Argives” on my course”) It was probably those few weeks that most of the technical skills of my degree arose. Two days before it was ready there was an unrelated catastrophic fire in the foundry area that meant that this finished bronze never actually happened- during this process I learned complex skills and how to deal with disappointment. #artdegree #sculpturedegree #lostwaxcasting #lostwaxmethod #procces #achilles #helmet #hoplite #trophy (at Stoke-on-Trent) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVsc8gosjHd/?utm_medium=tumblr
