To cast bigger items in concrete are not appropriate to do indoors. I long so much for spring to come, so I can be outside doing this. Meanwhile I have to find other things to do to ease my desire for casting. I have so many ideas that I want to follow out. 🙂
First out is the “dragon egg shells”, casted in fibre-reinforced self-levelling compound. It’s a cement based mortar for floors but can be used in many other ways too. One thing to keep in mind when casting with this, is that it has not the same strength as concrete.
I mix the compound powder with water so the mix becomes quite thick, like a bun dough.
To make the “shells” you also need some balloons and something to put the balloons on to hold them up. I used plastic pots.
Shape the mix to a flat ball and place it on top of the balloon. Hold the balloon and the balloon holder firmly and tap it a couple of times to the table. The mix will start to slowly spread out. Shape the mix to small petals and tap it to the table some more times. Don’t tap it too much, then it will become too thin and will break when handling.
After about an hour you can put a plastic film over it. Leave to cure for one day.
Remove the “shells” from the balloons and wrap them in the plastic film. Leave them to continue cure for another day. You can rinse the balloons in water to wash them and them reuse them.
Now it’s time to give the bowl a base. Form a small ball from the mix and put it on the bottom of the bowl. Gently tap so it will spread slightly. Turn it over and press it gently down on a plastic film. Leave it to cure for a day before you remove it from the plastic.
When the bowls have cured for a week you can start painting them. First I painted them with a uncoloured concrete sealer on both the inside and outside before I painted them with metallic paint.
They look very nice with a tealight in.
I have many other casting projects on going and I will post pictures from them later. 🙂
For those who are waiting for new cutting designs, you have to wait a little bit more. I can’t do everything at the same time. 🙂
Monica
Wow these are fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing them with us, You are so talented.
these are lovely.
Those are so cool! Beautiful after you’ve painted them and then filled them.
Hi Monica! I read that you use AutoCAD! I do too! I am a project manager and chief draftsman. I love all of your creations!
great project.love them.
Phantastic. Would mind telling me the Name of the material you used.. perhaps I can get it in Germany. Thanks a lot!
It says “Litoliv S40” on the bag. You can see a picture of the bag here: http://images.biltema.com/PAXToImageService.svc/article/xlarge/368342
Thanks a lot for your quick Response. Much appreciated.