Commisioned Life Sized Grizzly Sculpture

[mite5255]

Thats looking great Frank. That old shovel looks like its in the way. Look Frank if you want, you can pop it into a container and ship it over to me so so you'll then will have a bit more room to play in. No need to thank me for offering to help Frank, this is what mates are for, you know like help each other out when you think that they need more room

Speaking of old shovels this 1970 Police Special was in a bike shop that I drop in to every now and then for a bit of a chat

[dallen]

Mike, I'm closer you better let me go get it that way when frank wants to use it on the weekends he won't have to go so far to ride it.

[Jammer]

I'm staying out of this one.

The Bear is looking Great!

[F.C.]

Thanks, fellas. I'll agree, the shovel has been in the way but I can't seem to get the gumption to shove it outside under a tarp. Thought, maybe, of add'n a heavy duty shelf addition (above my molding station) and park'n that shovel up there (strapped to the wall studs) with my extended hoist till I sort out whether or not I'm going to chop it, restore it, or give'er up for sale. $5K and I'd wash the dust off her, polish up her red dress, slap fresh lipstick on'er and load'er up on a ship'n pallet and have 'er trucked to a new owner (within a reasonable distance, of course). Otherwise, I'll continue to keep her warm and dry, out of the weather, and covered up when I'm stirr'n up sparks and fly'n debris. That black pearl DYNA is my daily dance partner over the past few years. She's quick, durable, reliable and ready on a moment's notice to get out and hunt bugs.

Currently, the bear's on hold till I get my right hand (my dominant hand) to stop constantly tingling & going numb. Its touch sensitivity is numb but hurts deep in the wrist and forearm muscles terribly when I make a fist, plus it continually feels like I've got a non stop live wire current shooting from the elbow on down to the finger tips. It only happens after I've been tie'n and stretch'n that bear's chick'n wire and subsides after a couple days of rest then kicks off again after I go back at the wire again. At least, now, the wire tie'n ordeal is finally DONE. Next up, apply'n FOAM... whoooHOOOO!!

[F.C.]

Well, ya know me... I'm not one to sit and wait. Just had to do it... went and bought ten 12 oz. cans of spray foam and commenced to fill in deep cavities between the old main body and the raised layering of chicken wire (arm pits, pronounced (flexed) muscles), etc. just to see how the foam would behave get'n applied and "hopefully" allow some spreading by hand with a piece of visquene plastic sheathing. What a frick'n pain that was. What it taught me was that the foam, once in contact with the chicken wire grid (regardless more amount of foam would go past/through and adhere to the main original body) the foam would expand and literally seal off that grid and trap an abundance of air pockets between the wire and the main body. I tried to spread it by hand (in attempt to keep the wire grid open) with some degree of success but overall more detrimental than beneficial. Mess with the foam after it reaches the air and it changes its properties reducing its ability to expand which results in considerable amounts of sagging drips and runs. In other words, a frick'n mess all around the floor where you have to work within. After clean up, and a six pack of beer, along with some contemplation, I think I have a more workable solution. The idea of using the small cans of foam was to reduce those deep well cavities thereby reducing the amount of the commercial foam I ordered required. The small cans shoot out a string of foam, which lends to it's difficulty in getting it to cover a broad area. The string of foam also becomes heavily affected by gravity because it's not broadly attached to any surface you shoot it at. As it expands it sags resulting in need of applying a hand held piece of plastic sheathing to the surface wire and pressing to get it to expand more laterally. As you remove the sheathing a crap load of the foam gets pulled out with it. You scrape it back onto the wire and it coils around the wire rather than "through" the grid then swells to restrict more foam to be added. You then have to go back (after a few moments) and insert the straw tip through any openings left and apply more foam to fill up large air pockets. After a bit (because you knocked down/reduced the foam's expansion the added foam you inserted through the hole begins to push through in mounds & raises the previous layer of foam you flattened to proportions totally unacceptable.

Anwhoooo... tomorrow I'll go shave back all excess foam I applied tonight (4 cans out of 10 I purchased). I'll shave it back to the wire grid. I'll experiment with some pieces of sheathing taping them to the underside of a body mass then shoot the foam laterally, back and forth while gradually raising the sheathing upward (trapping the foam and keeping it from expanding, or slumping, out from the wire grid) eventually securing the sheathing over the top of the body section (such as an extended forearm). Then do the same thing on the other side after that first application of foam sets and becomes tack free. I hope that made sense.

Once the deep well cavities are filled (such as arm pits, sides of the jaws, cheeks, and throat area) they'll all get shaved back to wire grid then, and only then, will I crank up the spray foam kit and shoot the entire body several times with 1 inch thick layers. Those will expand considerably. Then the task of shave'n back what I don't want to prep for a sealant of automotive bondo then a final layering of oil based clay for detailing.

Sounds good in theory, don't it? HAHAHA.... I'm beginning to get the notion this is why no one does this to build bulk models for sculpture. Hopefully I'm smarter and more determined than the average bloke. I'm determined to make this work to good benefit.

No pictures thus far. My hands are too sticky to mess with anything delicate. Only my fingertips are clear of sticky mess. I'll shoot a few shots in the morning before I whittle back excess foam. On a side note, perhaps the reason why this is such a pain might be due the fact I'm work'n the foam faster than it should, BUT... delays (once you start the foam through the straw nozzle) if you stop for a few seconds too long the foam in the straw begins to swell and thereby begins to restrict more foam coming through which results in thinner strings of foam that are more difficult to manipulate. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I do believe a "spray" application is the best approach. Still there will be excess that will have to be shaved off. The more uniform the surface is (without deep wells requiring fill) the greater success one should have.

So... I do believe it's time for another cold beer.

[mite5255]

What do you use to shave the foam back Frank.....Speaking of beer, here is two beer commercials from a few year back
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg-rmPF ... freload=10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g4Z1OY ... freload=10

[F.C.]

I have a 12" pastry knife (approximately 1-1/2" wide X 12" long) I sharpened to a razor edge. It will slice through foam like a hot knife through butter. Speak'n of slice'n, I just got back from the shop after slice'n some foam globs off and DAMMIT... each sliced flat glob, now, is swelling (prior, they felt solid and cured) and oozing like a popped zit. Seriously, I need to QUIT mess'n with it. ENUFF for tonight. I'm gonna swill more beer and watch a movie.

[F.C.]

Those beer commercials gave me a good laugh... THANKS, MATE!!

[mite5255]

I've always love the one were all the sheds are joined, that's mateship. the 2nd one I know someone that arranged a holiday with his wife and all of his mates and wives also rocked up, he spent a little time in the dog house and no, it wasn't me

[F.C.]

Went out to the shop this morning with a fresh rested mind and reassessed the small canned foam I applied last night. Overall, I'd say (though ugly) it did serve to be beneficial, just need greater control over how it expands, slumps and spreads. My theory of applying plastic sheathing as backstops and having someone at the ready to raise, wrap and tape it to the form as the foam swells should provide the control I'm hoping for. Rather than mess about with the smaller cans which only squirt out a string of foam I'll opt to finish this process with the commercial spray foam kit instead. It will give far greater uniform coverage and by applying the sprayer's nozzle and tip through the wire mesh grid it'll better fill the deeper recesses and the plastic sheathing will keep it from slumping out through the grid and force it to expand with greater control.

Now, to get out the razor knife and commence to cut out sheathing wrap sections and tape them initially in place to ready the next step of foaming and sheathe the floor beneath the bear, the stand beneath the bear's feet, and position the mobile upright plastic sheathed backstop panels to confine any overspray that might occur.

Unsure if the weather's going to allow for the foam to be applied today or not. It's below 60 degrees at the moment. Need temps between 65 & 80 degrees F. for optimum foam expansion and cure. If not today (late this afternoon 70's are expected) tomorrow for sure which is predicted to be push'n 80 degrees. I am soooooo anxious to get this phase done and over with, trim any excess, then commence making up clay batches and getting this bear's hide applied.

Recall I mentioned before that the foam should provide good rigidity to the appendages protruding from the main body (front legs outreached). It did, in fact, do precisely as I'd hoped. Just foaming the arm pit cavities last night firmed up and provided a good measure of rigidity to those limbs already. Once all the foaming is applied and cured I'm confident those limbs will not sag under the weight and manipulation of the final clay layer while being applied and detailed. So... although some negative effects were experienced with the can foam last night, overall, sufficient benefit did come about as hoped for all along.

My mind's been in overdrive since this morning's inspection and has convinced itself this process will work better (once experience is acquired) and now is already planning on creating the next of two other life size works I designed years ago for a public art competition. Providing, of course, this bear gets sold. It's not costing me anything at this point but my time to create it, fortunately, but if it gets sold for the price I told the investor I'd expect for this piece the dust won't settle in the shop once this one's moved out before I begin fabrication of the next sculpture's armature. I can use the mold off this bear's anatomy to create several body bits for the next design which would make that work go much faster. I'm also considering notifying my investor to stop by the shop to see this bear's progress once the clay is applied and some life-like details are sculpted in. At that point I just might be able to impress upon their mind the addition of another bear (smaller & lower to the ground, also with aggressive attitude) to illustrate cause for this bear's defensive posture. In a sense, expand this work to include a small waterfall & pond and both bears challenging for "Fishing Rights". THAT, in my opinion, would surely draw interest from one of the many Casino's in this region. Imagine a wildlife diorama scene like that, with running water over a rocky fall and over the backs of a couple migrating salmon, natural vegetation planted at strategic locations about the fish'n hole... it would be AWESOME!! And the price of this commission would more than triple.

Between now and when I give the investor a status visitation I'll have the vision I just described detailed in a final rendering. There's a casino in Yakima, WA (about 74 miles from here) that just completed a major expansion with a gorgeous front entrance. A scene like I just described would be the cat's ass adornment for their main entrance. It's Native Indian owned, on Native Indian reservation... ALL Native Indians perceive the great bear as a powerful commanding spirit.

I know.... DAMMIT, Frank... shut up and keep focused on what's on yer plate right now. HAHAHA....