Cradle, the Middle

This is the part where I tell you how we made this thing. The hands were sculpted in WED clay with internal armatures. Alginate and plaster bandage molds were made and the hands were cast in plaster. I could then sand and resculpt using a little joint compound. Once finished, production molds were made with Smooth-on Mold Star 25 and Plasti Paste. We had tried to cast the hands in quickcrete, and after a few tests, decided that a 2 part plastic would do the trick with a few coats of spray paint. Amelia fabricated the cradle with found and made objects. There is a charm bracelet with lots of little animals that were cut by hand, and many rings with set stones that were made. Many of the beaded areas were fabricated as well. We ordered a column mold from a garden supply store, vacuum cast styrene. Amelia built a few jigs so we could run a piece of PVC pipe down the middle of each column part in order for a threaded rod to hold it all together. After a few tests with different concrete mixes, we ultimately cast everything in plaster of paris. The bases are fabricated from MDF. A threaded rod was glued securely to each hand, and a nut was secured to the underside of the top of the base. With ease the rod slipped through each section and was easily tightened together. Every piece was primed and spray painted white.