My New Sculpture!

My sculpture of Frank Hamer for the City of Navasota was the awesome pinnacle of my art career. And it has taken awhile to come down to earth afterwards.  

It was such a strong concept  I cast the maquette as well, which I call "Texas Town Tamer."

Texas Town Tamer. You can read all about Frank Hamer in my other blog : russellcushman.blogspot.com

It is great, stalwart Americans like Frank that inspire me. This original bronze of Ranger Frank Hamer is TWENTY-FIVE inches tall. Not including the thick, cedar wood base.

Once the City Marshal of Navasota, Ranger Hamer looks good checking out Cedar Creek, where the real-life Frank Hamer used to cross every day on his rounds.

 Right now the sculpture can be viewed at:

 

Texas Ranger Hall of Fame, gift shop in Waco, Texas

 

 THE FRENCH MARKET,  at Tokoly Consignments, in Navasota, Texas 

Finishing touches on the Frank Hamer bronze

I know many of you have been following the progress... so you deserve a peek.

Here the sculpture gets a few last details worked out. Omega bronze of Smithville, Texas has done an outstanding job.. and finished early and within budget... all a first for me. We will bring the bronze home soon.

Next, the final patina will be applied... and it's done.

And then INSTALLATION!

The Frank Hamer Monument is in Pieces!

And that is a good thing. Here is the progress made on the sculpture in the past few weeks... As you will see, the bronze casting process is a hard, dangerous, hot, and demanding craft.

Here are some of the wax pieces of the sculpture, made from the rubber molds.

The hands have been faithfully reproduced in wax, and are now hollow. The red stands are actually forms for the funnels that the bronze will eventually pour through.

The waxes pieces are dipped in alternate layers of ceramic and sand until there is a thick mold encrusted on them.

Frank's head.

The ceramic molds are fired to melt out the wax, and then later heated right before the bronze is poured. This makes everything compatible. You can't pour molten bronze into a cold mold.

The foundryman is wanting everything, the bronze, the molds, to be around 1600 degrees.

A special thermometer is used to monitor the heat.

Stephen Zabel, owner of Omega Bronze,  fetches the HOT molds from the oven...

The fired molds are placed in a sand box to hold them in place for pouring. Now everything is ready!

Easy does it... One drop could burn right through a foot...

Cast in three pieces, the base with the feet has been reassembled.

Here the torso is being artistically finished, the seams between the pieces "chased" and the texture that was lost in the process re-established with the skills of an experienced sculptor.

It wont be long! The dedication of the monument has been set for March 2nd!

More wierd than fiction...

First the arms, hat and guns were removed to be molded separately... then... WOW!

This is called "carding," it turns out the best thing for making separations in the molds

Frank is now enduring the mold making process where the clay is copied by rubber molds, in order to be able to make wax reproductions of every part. In the process the clay will be messed up... but it would be possible to fix it... but there is no reason to. The clay is too soft and vulnerable to be kept.  This is just a part of the casting procedure. We are headed for a bronze Frank!

Looks pretty silly in the meantime... check out this action...

the dismemberment is strategized...

off with the right arm!

Butchered and humiliated, he is now covered in about a half inch of rubber...

The whole process of casting this sculpture will be featured, step by step, in the Page titled "Making the Frank Hamer Monument" on the HOME page.