Shannon Larratt is Zentastic

I’ve just finished the final sanding of the little child soldier toy in the previous entry and have attached a pair of sprues to each of the component parts (two arms, a body, a head, and three accessories). With any luck I’ll make the molds (out of tin catalyzed silicone putty because it’s so easy to work with) and cast the first toys tomorrow… So if anyone wants to make a suggestion on a good next project, I’m listening. As to sales, yes, it’ll happen… I am just so horrible at fulfillment. I wish I knew someone who wanted to do that for me. Speaking of “I’m listening”, go ahead and volunteer in trade for a cut.

With a sword, mwahahahaha!

Since I’ve switched to two-part self-hardening synthetic clay, any clay I prepare will be rock hard by the next day and can not be re-used like things like Fimo or Sculpey. Rather than let the clay go to total waste, here is how I’ve amused myself:

That’s a casting taken off one of Nefarious’s Barbie dolls. She now has a tool that can stamp them out of plasticine as you can see. As well as that face, I did quite a few others, including one that’s quite tiny and certainly small enough to make nice shirt buttons (or beads) out of.

When I’m pouring plastics, that of course has any even shorter cure time, so if I don’t use it inside two or three minutes of mixing it goes (potentially uselessly) solid. It’s much harder to find a casual use for, so below is the amusement that came from the last thing I made (a gunmetal — metallic — version of my recent USB stick case). It is exactly what it looks like — perpetual pouring, the cup being emptied at the very instant that it went solid.

I remember enjoying a similar sculpture as a child. In the local mall they had a functional faucet that was suspended in the air. A pipe brought the water up, and then it poured back down all around said pipe, meaning that it looked like it was hanging there, some doorway to another — extremely watery — world.