VH1 Pilot, Page Five
Even MORE about making a James Brown bobblehead.
When the plaster mold is hard and dry (below left), it's held tightly together
with a large rubber band (cut from an inner tube). Now, some of the casting
material, neoprene, is carefully poured in, and the mold is rotated to
make sure all the inside surfaces get covered. Then the mold is completely
filled to the top with neoprene, and left to sit from 2-4 hours to build
up the thickness of the neoprene inside the mold. The neoprene is then
poured out, and allowed to set up inside the mold for 12-14 hours. After
12-14 hours, the mold is seperated, and the casting of the head is carefully
pulled out. At this stage, the neoprene is still very flexible, so it can
be pulled out of any undercuts in the mold.
Above right, two castings of the James Brown head. The one on the left has been out of the mold for 24 hours, the one on the right was just popped out of the mold. You can see two things about neoprene: it becomes a sort of peachy color when it sets completely, and it shrinks 10-20%. This means you have to make your original sculpt 10-20% LARGER than you want the finished product. That's a bit of a pain, but neoprene is one of the least toxic casting materials available, and easily trimmed, sanded, and painted, so that helps tips the scales in its favor as a choice of materials.
Page Six: The Finished Product
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Four
Photos from Private Collection of Rick Lyon
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