let that brew overnight and then CAREFULLY remove the alginate mold material. and there you have it, my hands as art. a quick acetone bath to wash away the goppy gunk that's left over from where th water based mold matter was in contact with the chemical based resin. allow to dry. grind off any bubble 'warts' w/dremel tool, and fill any missing parts with epoxy putty. now they're ready to get prepared for attachment to mr. maccaroni.

next we pour a mixture of casting resin and hardener in a lite mixture so as not to kick too quickly causing stress fractures and weakening the structure. roll the pour around as well as can b to try and eliminate air bubbles, missed digits, and illegal immigrants.

once the mold has hardened, or 'kicked', i slowly start woking my digits loose from their slurpy prisons. jus a lil at a time and...viola! an odd looking bucket of hollow oatmeal!

THE MAKING OF THE HANDS. found a couple med size buckets and mixed up some powdered alginate with kelp fiber for added strength. stuff sets up quik so i stick my hand in and pray to myself that i got the pose correct.

uncle aggamemnon

alrighty-odor my peeps! gotta say that i missed ya'll whilst my hardrive took a major dukey last week! 145 gigs of grade-a data.....-poof-...gone. wah! lesson: always back up yer stizz-uff or it goes bye-bye. sionara baby. anywho, i is back and almost ready to post about the making of the hands, but i have much sanding to do. so here am a coupla pix of the beard going on and a few other tings to edify my existence ( actually got some work this week so as to increase the possibilities of groceries in the fridge!) artistically speakin. enjoy!

the pants have their stripeses!

wassup folks? look at the pretty flower i found at the luxart. silk impregnated with the essence of goo. almost ready to be put together as a pleasing whole.

now we are striping the legs! first lotsa sanding ( of course!), then, a nice coating of the gooo. next we dip pre-cut strips of 2" wide fiberglas into the goo, taking it out whilst squeegie-ing the excess goop between fingers( please wear gloves!). then, gently but firmly, apply strips to pants. allow overnight to kick. next, get out the old dremel tool w/ the diamond incrusted taper bit and trace out the stripes. and a good time is had by all!

yes,yes,yes! i found the everluvin camera! yay! here is most recent pix of the clown we now call " Uncle Maccaroni". yes that is the title, and yesa, he is a yankee doodle dandee. i have layered his pants with a thick fiberglas matting, as well as the hat. and on the hat i offset the texture of the matt w/ stripes and stars made of fiberglas cloth stips. then i grind and sand. next i will do the same for his trouser legs. man, oh man, i is so far behind schedule on this baby! i forgot just how much sanding was required, and just how little time 15 min. is til liquid turns to a blob of gelatinous glop. a completely unusable blob of gelatinous glop! but i have determined that the perfect amount of workable resin is about 8oz. at a time, this way it all gets used with little wasted. and that crizz-app ain't cheap, baybee! about $22 a gal @ the fiberglas store, $30 at home despot. so far i've gone thru aboot 4 gals with no end in sight ( wait, what's that fuzzy dot at the end of the tunnel? ). so check out his groovy hat and sanded self , next week we cast and mount the hands! whooo, exciting! can't wait.

heyoh there kiddoes! i seem to have misplaced my lil ol camera l8ly, so i have to tell ya, i still been sanding, gooping, layin on cloth and mat, and generally making life more itchy and sticky! love it baby! got most of the hat, coat and pants glassed, and am workin on the rest this week. also, am thinking of titling the piece 'maccaroni'. still not sure tho..

one of my favorite t.v. personalities, Steve Irwin (the crocodile hunter) was killed today when a sting-ray barb pierced his heart. r.i.p. mate. my condolences to the irwin family on their tragic loss. he was a great conservationist and truly a unique individual. he will be missed.