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MadDog Mike's Platterful of Pupule - El Diablo Bottle & 6 ft Concrete Moai

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D danlovestikis Grand Member (8 years) Joined: Jun 17, 2002 Posts: 9285	D danlovestikis Posted posted on Sat, Jan 4, 2025 9:09 AM We need a video to see your home made heat knife in action. I've never heard of one. I have a soldering gun. Similar? The Moai style is modern. I can recognize it already. Well done. You are always young to me.
M MadDogMike Grand Member (8 years) The Anvil of the Sun Joined: Mar 30, 2008 Posts: 11086	M MadDogMike Posted posted on Sat, Jan 4, 2025 1:38 PM danlovestikis, TC doesn't have a good way to post video so I sent you 2 videos on Facebook. Time for a little break. I need a hot knife other than the ones I made. I ordered one on Amazon, should be here next week.in the meantime, I think this is where my Moai will sit. I'll build a block platform for it to sit on and a firepit.
M MadDogMike Grand Member (8 years) The Anvil of the Sun Joined: Mar 30, 2008 Posts: 11086	M MadDogMike Posted posted on Sat, Jan 4, 2025 3:06 PM Early in my ceramics journey I learned to wrap clay around an existing form, let it dry a bit, cut it in pieces to remove the form in the middle, and put the pieces back together. Interesting shaped bottles work well. Or I have carved a piece of foam and used it. But now that I have a 3D printer, it opens a whole new realm of possibilities. I wanted to make an El Diablo bottle. Rather than sculpt it solid and hollow it out, I 3D printed a head form the size I wanted for $3 in material. Once I get the hollow clay form I should be able to add horns, ears, maybe a curled mustache and a pointed goatee. Then add a bottle neck to the top, we'll see how it works out. I calculate the volume to be about 20 ounces, a good volume for homemade chili liqueur. I could use the form to make a pirate, a Papua New Guinea tribesman, a jungle explorer, or whatever male figure I need.
M MadDogMike Grand Member (8 years) The Anvil of the Sun Joined: Mar 30, 2008 Posts: 11086	M MadDogMike Posted posted on Sun, Jan 5, 2025 1:17 PM My 3D printed armature seems to be working out! Covered the 3D print in dampened tissue paper to the clay would not stick. Rolled out slabs of clay and placed over the tissue covered model and smoothed it out. The relief cuts allow the clay to shrink a bit as it dries without cracking. Once the clay has firmed up enough, the pieces were removed from the plastic model and re-assembled. The pieces merged back together, Smoothed out. The bottle neck and bottom added. Facial details added - horns, pointed ears, eyebrows, sharper nose, and goatee. Starting to look like a devil! Now it's time figure out how I want to finish it. Do I leave it a minimalist shape like it it now and go solid red glaze? Do I add a little more detail then glaze the eyebrows and goatee black? Do I add yellow eyes?
M MadDogMike Grand Member (8 years) The Anvil of the Sun Joined: Mar 30, 2008 Posts: 11086	M MadDogMike Posted posted on Sun, Jan 5, 2025 2:53 PM Oh! Oh! Oh! I'm excited about a new technique!!! I've always been jealous of danlovestikis and her raised letters on ceramics. But it's so much more work than just carving them in. So I came up with a new technique to try and it worked! I used the computer to make my lettering in the font I wanted. Then I reversed it and printed it the size I wanted. Then put a piece of package tape over the lettering, sticky side up. Rolled out little clay snakes and stuck them to the tape in the shape of the letters I brushed clay slip on the surface where the letters were to go. I was able to lift the tape with the clay letters and transfer it to the bottle surface. As the letters dry, I can carve and refine them as I go.
D danlovestikis Grand Member (8 years) Joined: Jun 17, 2002 Posts: 9285	D danlovestikis Posted posted on Sun, Jan 5, 2025 6:46 PM Wowowowowowowoow! I love watching you work. This is really a fun project. I look forward to the next steps and glazing.
G GROG Grand Member (1 year) Tujunga Joined: Jun 21, 2006 Posts: 7569	G GROG Posted posted on Sun, Jan 5, 2025 11:13 PM The devil is in the details! lol
M MadDogMike Grand Member (8 years) The Anvil of the Sun Joined: Mar 30, 2008 Posts: 11086	M MadDogMike Posted posted on Mon, Jan 6, 2025 11:58 AM Thank you danlovestikis. Yes, you are right GROG LOL. Time to put that project away and let it dry a bit. My hot knife come in so I'm working on refining my Moai a bit. Had a few places where I was missing foam so I filled them in with spray foam. Once the foam cures I can carve it. It's getting there!.
G GROG Grand Member (1 year) Tujunga Joined: Jun 21, 2006 Posts: 7569	G GROG Posted posted on Mon, Jan 6, 2025 1:01 PM Carve that puppy, Maddoggy!!
ATP Atomic Tiki Punk Tiki Socialite Costa Misery Joined: Jul 19, 2009 Posts: 7121	ATP Atomic Tiki Punk Posted posted on Sun, Jan 12, 2025 4:01 PM Still at it Mike! hope you and the family is rocking the New Year!
M MadDogMike Grand Member (8 years) The Anvil of the Sun Joined: Mar 30, 2008 Posts: 11086	M MadDogMike Posted posted on Tue, Jan 14, 2025 8:19 AM GROG I'm trying! Atomic Tiki Punk! Life is good, great to hear from you. Had a great week a Puerto Peñasco Mexico, now it time to get back to work. The El Diablo bottle is for a cocktail presentation my brother will be doing and will hold Ancho Chili Liqueur. The drink will sit on a platform to conceal a remote control ignition device and the red "flames" at the base of the glass is flash paper with will burst into real flames at the push of a button. Remote ignition parts are on order, let's see if I can make it work... Foam carving is done on the Moai. Working on firepit placement. Next big challenge will be tightly wrap him in chicken wire to support the concrete without changing the shape or requiring a ton of cement needed to cover the wire. [ Edited by MadDogMike on 2025-01-14 08:41:20 ]
M MadDogMike Grand Member (8 years) The Anvil of the Sun Joined: Mar 30, 2008 Posts: 11086	M MadDogMike Posted posted on Wed, Jan 15, 2025 3:52 PM I'm excited that my Moai wire wrapping seems to be working out. Made up a couple hundred clips from baling wire (I'm showing my age, they haven't used wire for baling in almost 50 years LOL) Wrapping in chicken wire, folded in the excess, then pinned into the foam with the wires. My 12 year old grandson wants to help me spread concrete on it so I'm hoping we do work on that this Saturday.