Mold Creation
2022
Another panel is brought from Douwe Blumberg’s studio in Kentucky to the foundry.
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This spring all four sides of the spike were welded to the truss tower was successfully rolled out and sandblasted before being rolled back into the studio. A surface neutralizer was then applied to protect the raw aluminum and promote paint adhesion.
The head of the spike was fit and “bodywork” began on the spike shaft. This process is essentially similar to how a car body is worked on using a special two-part putty to fill small holes, imperfections, etc. After the bodywork, the sculpture was primed and prepared for gold-leafing.
A gold-leafing consultant provided intense, hands-on instruction to the team. The consultant is one of the most respected “gilders” in the world and has done work from the U.S. Capitol to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. His 42 year career also includes a stint as president of the National Gilders’ Association.
The consultant traveled to the studio and worked with Douwe and his staff for three days on the spike to get the team up to speed on the process. The team has made rapid progress on the gilding process.
This spring and into the summer leafing will happen simultaneously as the spike head is being fitted and finished. When it is finished, the team will apply a two-part protective wax coating and prepare the monument for shipping.
Thank you for your generosity and support of this project. We will continue to update this page as our work progresses.
Another panel is brought from Douwe Blumberg’s studio in Kentucky to the foundry.
While at the foundry, the molds are used to make an aluminum casting of each panel.
Many aluminum panels are finished at the foundry. We anticipate that all of the sculpted panels will be available for pick up by the end of the year.
Results of the first metal casting produced by the foundry.
The aluminum rough-cast panels are shipped back to the Douwe Blumberg’s studio in Kentucky where they are finished and fitted together.
The internal structure of the monument will be a truss-tower. A truss-tower is similar to a radio/cell tower. The truss-tower is fabricated of aluminum.
The truss-tower has been completed and is now being reinstalled at Douwe’s studio.
The finished aluminum-cast panels are welded onto the truss-tower. Each seam and edge is welded and filled with aluminum welding rod which is then sanded and textured to perfectly match the surrounding sculpted panels.
This is a photograph of the top/roof/dome of the head from the inside. The head is created with dozens of hand formed panels, a “old school” technique that makes the sculpture extremely lightweight.
The entire piece was rolled out of the studio before being sandblasted.
A photograph from the upper story of the studio of the sculpture.
