This just arrived from the foundry last week:
What happened to the Dub with the hat?
I presume he’s being cast in Germany by Hans’ friend of a friend . This is an unrelated piece I sculpted a couple of months ago as an experiment with a new kind of wax-based clay. It melts and vaporizes at high temperature, allowing a direct cast to be made without the use of an intermediate mold. The tricky thing is you can’t use an armature (it would be stuck in the mold once the clay is melted out), so it’s a pain in the keister to keep everything from sagging and bending. An intermediate mold could then be made from this bronze for making mutiple castings.
Hi Chadd,
I really like the proportions… maybe a bit cartoony but I’ll forgive you 
Is it a self protrait? Where’s the ponytail?
Patrick.
looks like one of Gabriel’s chairs was used for inspiration. Nice job.
“The character portrayed herein is fictitious. Any resemblance to any person is coincidental and unintentional.” Although I must admit that the pipes are loosely based on my Seth Gallagher C set, but scaled up to make the the proportions more cartoo… I mean, interesting.
Good eye, Fel! Gabriel’s mushroom chairs were indeed what I had in mind.
I was going to be the anal-retentive person and ask about the pipes 
Chadd,
What is the brand name of this wax/clay? Can it be flame burnished befor casting? Can it be used with investment plaster on a jewelry scale?
It sounds very interesting.
Marc
Mind you, this hits the mark a bit better than that recent Irish stamp with the female piper and her Bb/A set with the chanter that cannot be covered with human hands!
I don’t know the brand name. I was given a hunk of the stuff by a sculptor at work who says he has to buy 50 pounds of it at a time. I think the manufacturer is still adjusting the formulation. It is intended to be used with investment plaster and can be flame burnished or melted with heated tools.
Incase anyone took my previous past the wrong way… I was only slagging Chadd… he’s an animator thus the cartoon pun 
The nose is way too Disney for my taste 
Patrick.
Good job Chadd.
If you have any of the wax/clay left could you bring a piece to the SCUPC gathering sometime? I used to make figures out of wax and I’m curious to see what this is like.
This is Los Angeles; I’m sure he can find a good plastic surgeon to take care of that for him. Here are a couple more shots, just for giggles:
Cool stuff Chad.
A few of the SoCal pipers have expressed interest in having a casting of this piece, so I’m looking into how much it would cost to run a small edition. I’d like to get a head count of how many people might like one so I can get an accurate quote from the foundry. At this point it looks like the per unit cost will probably be under $200. Please email me if you think you’d be interested in one. There’s no commitment at this point.
I posted a few more pictures at http://homepage.mac.com/chaddferron/BronzePiperScuplture/PhotoAlbum5.html
The sculpture is 5.5 inches high. I’m still working on the final patina, so the coloration may be a little different than what you see in these photos. The original is going to be exhibited at the Disney animation studio from July 15th to September 2nd, so I won’t be able to make the mold until after that. I would expect the castings to be available in October.
I had the pleasure of seeing the sculpture first hand over the weekend and it is gorgeous. I am at the top of the waiting list for one.
Patrick.
Due to the complexity of the sculpture, the quote from the foundry was a bit higher than I was anticipating . The owner of the shop where the original was cast refused the job because he didn’t think he could make the mold. They specialize in making aviation hardware, not art sculptures.
Fortunately, I have found a proper sculpture foundry with a master moldmaker who comes highly recommended by two colleagues. According to his estimate, it looks like I can do it for $230 USD per piece. I’m limiting the edition to 75 since I will need to do some work to each wax casting before it’s converted to bronze. Judging by the work I saw in the shop, I expect the patina on the castings to be much richer than it was in the original. I will post new photos once the first one is done. I will probably also offer to affix each sculpture to an appropriate wooden base. I expect to have the first batch ready in time for the 2004 Southern California Tionól!
I’ll post ordering information once I’m closer to having finished pieces. In the meantime, I’m keeping a list of those who have expressed interest and those individuals will be first in line when it’s time to commit.