Plate

To complete the bread and cheese I bought an enamel plate which I tried to make look used by applying Covent Garden Primer and very light grey paint. When dry I went over it with a Stanley knife to create knife marks and a hit it against a brick wall to damage the edges a little.

Cheese

To make the cheese I used non expandable polystyrene as it is more compact in appearance. Like the bread I carve it to shape but covered it with Idenden instead of PVA. I found, from experimentation (shown in my sketckbook), that if I dab water onto the Idenden surface it creates a lumpy texture with was perfect for the kind of cheese I was trying to replicate. This cheese being     St Marcelin is actually a French cheese so I decide to make another which I know is Belgian, Gouda cheese but when the idenden dried it was too hard to sand down and the texture was all wrong so I am using the St Marcelin in the end and use it as an imported cheese for my narrative. 

To make my bread I used Expandable Polystyrene. I cut it and carved it to an average oval shape adding 3 slits at the top to make it look like baked bread. I sand it down to soften surface then apply PVA with piece of Muslin. I leave to dry and paint over it. When dry I see that the muslin edges are still noticeable so I cover it with Idenden for a more even and harder looking finish then paint over it.

For my narrative I just want a small piece of bread that the farmer ripped off the loaf. To do this I carve a smaller piece of bread, cover it with muslin and PVA but to make the interior part of the bread look doughier I use an electric heater to reduce the foam. 

Polystyrene

There are 2 types of Polystyrene, expandable (white with foamy balls) and non-expandable (yellow). Both can be cut and sand down and are very soft materials therefore they will need to be protected with either:

·         PVA and muslin, applied like paper maché or

·         Artex or Idenden. These are pastes like poly filler, good to add texture if mixed with sand, paint or barque.  If a thick layer is applied they can be as strong as rock and completely flame retardant. When half dry they can be sand down, carved or drilled into.

Polystyrene is easy to carve into and shape but it also reduces when exposed to heat. To glue polystyrene together it is best to use Expanding Foam. This will expand by a 1/3 and is a Polyurethane foam which can be cut and sand down but will not shrink with heat.

Narrative

For my unit I decided that I wanted to create props that would be found in the house. The scene is set late at night in a farmhouse living room. The only source of light is coming from the fireplace and a candle that is placed on a side table next to an armchair. The farm owner has just finished work and sits in his chair to have a late night snack. On the side table he would have his snack and a drink. For the drink I was debating whether to have a warm drink, a spirit, a beer or wine. As the scene is in Belgium I considered the beer and would have put it in a Belgian beer glass or a tankard.

I thought it would be interesting to make a tankard but I preferred the idea of wine. I know that in France men like to have their small glass of red wine with a bit of cheese after work and so that is what I decided to do adapting my narrative bringing this farm closer to France. To help me find design ideas I went around Rochester looking into Antique and charity shops.

To look at cottage interiors and bottles I watched “Un Long Dimanche de Fiançaille”. I noticed that wine bottles were both clear and green but only had cork tops.  I also happen to know from personal experience that French “lower class” would drink red wine and from a small tumbler glass rather than a wine glass. This is also shown in this film (see below centre). To make these I can take a bottle and glass and adapt them. For the bottle I remove the labels with hot soapy water and add a red liquid inside that I make from paint and water.

Now my choice of beverage is finalised I decide to make bread and cheese as the snack. The best way to make these is with Polystyrene. 

Stylising the helmet

When I have painted to base green I go over it with different shades of brown until I am happy with the result. To add more effect I applied talken powder with paint to create a rusty look on the edges.

To make the helmet look more real I need to work on it a bit more. First I “Wet and Dry” sand it with sand paper making sure the paper is very wet at all times. Then go over it with T-Cut as I would with a car to get rid of all deep scratches and I also used iron wool. This results in an even shiny metallic finish. As I want to paint over it I first apply a layer of Covent Garden Primer to help the paint stick.

Brody Helmet

Plastic Mould

To construct a Brody Helmet I must first make a mould in which I will be making the helmet. To do this I need a plaster mould in the shape of the helmet which I sprayed with silicone release agent and put in the Vacuum Former. I then place a piece of Sheet Styren over the mould and switch on the heater.

Once the Sheet Styrene’s surface has gone wavy then straight again I know that it is ready. I then remove the heater, pull the levy up for the plaster mould to go through the sheet styrene. This will then stretch and I press the green button (Mould) to Vacuum. Finally I remove from the plaster mould and cut off the excess plastic making sure I wear protective glasses.

Resin and Fibre Glass Mould

First, whilst wearing the correct Personal Protective Equipement (boiler suit, gloves, mask and glasses at the ready) I must prepare the mould by applying 3 thin layers of Mould Release Wax  by buffing to a nice sheen and allowing to dry inbetween layers. I also need to use spray as a precaution.

When doing a fiberglass mould (wearing all my PPE) I must first do one layer of Gel Coat. To do this I mix 100 parts Gel Coat to 1 part Catalyst (hardener) here I will be using 100g of gel coat and 1g of catalyst. I mix quickly and thourougly before it goes off. I then add metal powder to add a metalic sheen. I use enough for the metalic effect to come through but not too much so that it is not too thick.

When ready I paint the mixture in the inside of my plastic mould making a layer of 2-3mm thick. I then leave to dry for 1 to 2 hours. The surface should be soft but not wet.

Before starting the Lay-up I must tear up pieces of Fibre glass matt and Fibre glass tissue so that they are ready and I don’t have to do it when my lay-up is hardening. I then mix up Lay-up resin gel and Catalyst 100:1 by weight (100g lay-up, 1g Catalyst) and less than 5% black pigment.

I first paint one layer of the mixture into the mould and carefuly place the pieces of fibre glass matt then push them into the first layer with the paint brush by dabbing making sure not to brush as this will drag the strands around. I repeat this process again with the fibre glass tissue to add a neat finish.

I now leave this to dry for about 2 hours although the drying speed depends on the temperature of the room. I wait until the texture is “cheesy” so that I can easily cut off the edges with a stanley knife rather than leaving it over night and have to cut it off with a hacksaw. When the edge is removed I leave to set a little longer and remove (with great struggle) from the mould.

My resin and fibre glass mould is now complete.