I accomplished my goals for the week by making moulds for last tree and branches. Five more moulds added to the pile.
First, I did a pair of branch moulds using the cracking method. Was not concerned about preserving waxes so opened right away and completed moulds quickly.
With the tree, I wanted to see if waiting a day before cracking the mould open would save the wax model. It did. Otherwise it proved to be a bad idea. It was so much harder and more strenuous to crack open than it would have been in the hour after pouring. Seemed to take forever. My frustration level rose pretty high as I swung the hammer over and over. The sweat dripped off my face. In my head I was starting to make contingency plans for what to do when both mould and model were completely destroyed by all the hammering. Just when it was starting to feel like a goner, it parted. Not a perfect mould but serviceable. The physical exertion to get it cracked open seemed to be tenfold over what it would have been when the plaster was still warm. A whole lot more work than necessary.
Still had two branches left to mould after the tree. Wanted to find a better way.
I cracked the plaster around the wax branches while it was still warm. It took only a few minutes. So simple and effortless compared to the tree. Though cracked, the moulds were not opened. I bound them with elastics and left them overnight. In the morning the waxes came out firm and undamaged. A much smaller expenditure of effort to do it this way and it gave me exactly the results I was looking for. Definitely a better way.
Next week, moulds will be made for the square and rectangular bases.
