Slammin' Ham! - FFFriday Guest Post from Victoria Ross

After a brief and accidental hiatus, guest Fake Food Friday's are back, and it's back with a bang or rather, a slam!  This excellent ham is courtesy of Victoria Ross at Triad Stage and was mentioned on Silk Flowers and Papier Mache Hearts in Episode 37 - Skin of A Dragon. This post is also a return to casting and molding, which we haven't had in ages.  

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Raw, Bloody Ham - Two Trains Running at Triad Stage 2019

What a glamour shot... or should I say hamour shot?

Materials: Smooth-On DragonSkin, Vaseline, mineral spirits, Smooth-On Silc Pig, Smooth-On Psycho Paint, leftover silicone (for filler)

Tools: ham mold, mixing containers, stir sticks, Personal Protective Equipment

Safety Note: Though DragonSkin is Certified Skin Safe, always read the Technical Bulletin for any casting and molding materials before you use them, and follow common sense safety procedures.

Step One: Procuring a Ham Mold

The mold was created for a previous production molded off of a real ham, and it was originally intended for expanding foam. Since I would be casting in silicone, I needed mold release. I made my own release from vaseline and mineral spirits, which worked like a charm! To limit the volume of Smooth-On Dragon Skin needed, I filled the core of the ham with a silicone 'pit' -- a pink chunk left over from past materials (we save everything for this exact reason). I secured the two-part mold with ratchet straps, cradled it in upholstery foam scraps within a box, mixed my parts and began to pour.

Step Two: Washing a Ham

Our ham was cast from Dragon Skin tinted with Smooth-On Silc Pig pigments. I made the rubber a fleshy hue with subtle white and red streaks to provide a 'base coat' of color.

I washed the mold release off the ham to prepare it for painting.

Step Three: Painting a Ham

Painting with tinted rubber is a blast! I used Smooth-On (are they a sponsor yet?) two-part Psycho Paint with the Silc Pig pigments to create my pallet of pinky flesh, reddish brown blood, and white fat marble. I based my highlights and shadows from a research image, and I used popsicle sticks and my fingers to paint the rubber paint onto the ham.

Step Four: Slamming a Ham

Once the ham was dry and all silicone paint had bonded to itself, I gave the ham a thorough bath and handed it off to stage management. The ham interacts with stage blood on the actors hands, so having it be washable was a must. It also is slammed on the counter, and the weight and slap of rubber makes the effect truly deliver. The lighting designer even gave the ham its own spot light - a most appropriate lighting for a ham, after all.

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What a gorgeous ham and epic lighting!  Thank you Victoria for sharing.  You can check out more of Victoria's projects at http://www.propertyofprops.com/.

And no ham post is complete without one of my favorite gifs of all time: 

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Safe Dial Part 2- The Casting

I cast the dial from Smooth Cast 325 using what they call a 'cold cast' technique, or what I call, schmooeying bronzing powder into the mold. This technique gives a metallic look to the resin. Here is how the process works.

Once I finished demolding, it was time to reassemble the mold.  The bumps and ridges formed by the cured rubber actually act as registration points for the mother mold. There are three important things to remember here. First, make sure the mold is seated well into the mother mold. The rubber should be solidly seated into the plasti-paste, without any wiggle.  The seam should be flush, and almost invisible, you don't want any leakage. Second, the mother mold should be clamped/taped/banded together- whatever it takes to get it secure and level. Leveling is very important for this casting, more so than usual because the back of the dial needs to sit flat on the safe, and the large surface area makes it harder to sand flat. Third, RELEASE RELEASE RELEASE. I used a liberal amount of Universal Mold Release in the mold before applying the bronzing powder. Release agent is important! Urethane resin is adhesive, and it will stick to all sorts of things- so I like to get some release agent pretty much anywhere I think I might get casting resin.

After the mold release was applied, I brushed bronzing powder into the mold. The idea here is that the resin will trap the powder in its surface and the finished casting will have a metallic look. Bronzing powder is another dangerous substance though, so before you use a soft brush to apply an even coat of powder to the inside of the mold, make sure to wear proper respiratory protection.

Once the bronzing powder was in place, it was time to pour the mold.  Following the directions, and wearing the proper protective equipment, I mixed the Smooth-Cast 325 and poured it slowly into the mold. It's always good to pour into the lowest point of the mold, and slowly allow the resin to rise. This will help prevent bubbles from forming in the casting. 

Once cured, I demolded the dial by gently removing the mother mold and peeling back the urethane rubber mold.  TA-DA!

 
I actually made two castings of this piece so that we could cut the center piece from the outside ring, and mount them to the safe so that the interior could spin.  To store the mold, I like to keep the mold in its mother mold, in a cool, dry place.

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Safe Dial- The Mold

So, I haven't blogged about many of my casting projects here on Fake n' Bake yet, even though apparently this is some sort of blog 'dedicated to casting and molding....blah blah blah.'  The reason is that fake food is just so much more fun. Sure, sure, casting is great, I love my job, but who doesn't love fake cocktails? Or fake TV dinners? Am I right? That said, casting and molding really are a large part of what I do, and there are some fascinating things to be done with casting and molding- so I thought I'd start to share a few fun things with you. 

This first little project is a dial for a safe.  We have a beautiful antique safe dial in stock, it just happens to be permanently attached to one of our other prop safes. So, what to do? Our carpenter, Erik (a props GENIUS) asked if I might lend a hand by taking a mold of the existing safe dial and casting a new resin dial for our new vaccuformed safe.

Materials: Visqueen, Universal Mold Release, Smooth-on Brush On 40, Smooth-on Sonite Wax, Smooth-on Plasti-paste, mixing containers and utensils


Safety Gear: Splash Goggles, Apron, Sleeves, Nitrile Gloves, Ventilation Hood, Respirator

I started by making sure that my original was clean, and by shielding the things that I did not want to cast. I placed a layer of visqueen on the safe, cutting a hole for the dial, and taping the edges of the opening down with packing tape.  Next, I applied a release agent. This is so incredibly important in casting and molding, especially when working with adhesive mold materials like urethane rubbers.  I applied two liberal coats of Universal Mold Release, making sure to cover all of the nooks and crannies of the original.

I made the mold out of two layers of Smooth-on Brush on 40.  I like the Brush-On 40 because it is brushable (who would have guessed), strong,  and just the right amount of flexible. Also, you can really glob it on to get nice thick, strong support for undercuts, and spread it thinner where you need more flexibility.  Be sure to read all of the directions carefully, and don't forget about the MSDS. Although they play it down in the literature, and although the Smooth-on guys do demos at trade shows without any Personal Protective Equipment, all two part urethanes are bad for you.  They contain sensitizers, which means that the chances of allergic reaction increase each time you are exposed to them. While you may never have a reaction, why risk it? I say, err on the side of safety. So yeah, read the MSDS, read the Technical Bulletins, and protect yourself.

Once both layers of the mold were cured (I tinted the second to ensure coverage, hence the pink), I began on the mother mold.  Before smearing on the Plasti-Paste, it was time to put on another release agent.Smooth-on Sonite Wax is a petroleum based wax that works as an excellent release between the cured Brush-On Rubber and the Plasti Paste. Because the rubber will not be fully smooth, the Plasti-Paste can register into all of those little nooks and crannies- making it difficult to de-mold.  The Sonite Wax is thick and slippery, and helps the de-mold process immensely.  I made the mother mold with Smooth-On Plasti-Paste, a thick, goopy two part plastic which hardens into a strong mother mold.  This is another Urethane, so use that safety gear! Also, the Plasti-Paste can become very sharp if it is peaky when it dries, so try to smooth it as much as possible. The mother mold is made in two parts to allow it to come off of the mold easily. I waited for the first half to cure, then applied more Sonite Wax and spread on the second half.

Once the mother mold is cured, it's time to de-mold. I removed the mother mold, and then used an X-Acto knife to carefully cut a slit in the mold....just enough to allow the head of the safe dial to slip out. Any seam in your mold is a potential flaw in your casting, so it's important to plan ahead and cut carefully.

Next, the casting.....stay tuned!

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Penny Drinks aka Ladies Night

Well, thanks to a lovely recommendation from Mr. Eric Hart, and you lovely people, this blog has just made it's first penny! Now, don't worry, the entry on cake decorating is in the works, but I wanted to take a moment to celebrate what I hope is the first of tens and tens of pennies! What better way to celebrate this occasion than with a drink, especially one that you can't drink?

When Act I ends, our actor has been dressed in drag for our amusement. When Act II begins, we find that he has spent intermission at a bar across the street, taking advantage of ladies night. Now, if there's one thing that musical theater thinks that 'ladies' like to drink, it's fruit cocktail in a glass. Right?

The fruit is actually serving two purposes here, visual and practical. For color, clarity, and cuickness (that's right, I said it) we decided to use Smooth Cast 325 for our drinks. The problem with cast resins is that they aren't particularly light, and top heavy stemware makes for tippy, awkward props. The fruit, which was purchased and pulled from stock, is considerably lighter as it is either hollow or made from lightweight materials.  Since we're going for the girly drink joke anyway, it fits right in.

There are two little tricks with this drink, not that anyone would ever notice by looking at it. Because that darling little umbrella is incredibly fragile, and because my boss is holding out hope of finding a funnier straw, both the umbrella and the straw are designed to be removable.

So, here's how I did it. First, I pulled two glasses from stock (one is for a back up.) Then, I loaded the glasses up with fruit and fake ice. Since I wanted the resin to stick to the glass and the fruit, I didn't use a release agent. The umbrella (as you can see only slightly in the photo) is floating freely in a small red cocktail straw that is embedded in the resin. This was simply done by putting the straw in the glass before filling. Urethane resin is adhesive, so it's very easy to do embeddings like this.  Making the bigger straw removable was only slightly more complicated.  First, I used hot glue to plug the bottom of the straw. This prevented resin from creeping up the inside of the straw and sticking. Then I used Sonite Wax liberally on the straw. Sonite Wax is a petroleum based wax that is made by Smooth-On, and is releasier, beefier, and gooier than the spray on Universal Mold Release that I am generally fond of. Once the straw had a thick coat of release agent, I placed it in the cup as well.

 

The decision to make the drinks pink was based largely on the fact that I had red So-Strong pigment in stock.  Just a tiny dab of this pigment was enough to color the resin this fruitylicious shade of pink.  As per the directions, I measured out equal parts of Smooth Cast 325 A&B, added the color to part B, and then mixed the two thoroughly, and poured.  (Using proper safety gear, of course.)

About 1/4 of the way into pouring, I remembered something important. Buoyancy.  The sealed straw and the hollow fruit started to float to the surface, basically voiding my careful arrangement.  No matter, with my gloved fingers, I was able to hold the items in place long enough for the resin to set initially (about 90 seconds.) Note to self: light stuff floats.  

Luckily, the schmooeying of the straw was a success, as was the awkward holding of the fruit. The fruit stayed in the drink, the straw came out. The embedded cocktail straw made a perfect little nest for the umbrella, and the cabaret show got just a little bit girlier. Hot glue a fake slice of orange to the rim of the glass, and bottoms up!

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TV Dinner

I have to admit, there wasn't a research image for this one. This TV dinner came mostly from the memories of the rare evening when my brother and I were allowed to have microwavable TV dinners. Black plastic compartments separated our chicken nuggets from our crinkle fries, and a thin layer of plastic covered the greatest of the treasure, a sticky 'chocolate' brownie that baked in the microwave. What luxury technology had brought to our lives!

This TV dinner was for our production of Almost, Maine, and was simply a piece of set dressing. I decided that this character seemed like the tuna noodle casserole type to me, and what goes better with tuna noodles than peas? Our shopper, Pete was kind enough to buy me a real TV dinner, so that I could use the iconic black divided tray. I dispatched the dinner, and washed out the tray.

The peas were easy as pie. Easy as peas? Hmm. I simply took a strand of cheap mardi gras beads, spray painted them green, cut them apart, and glued them into the tray with Alene's Jewel It glue. This glue is excellent for holding round items to smooth surfaces and, as it dries shiny, I also spread it around the compartment to simulate water. Mmm...watery peas.

The tuna noodle casserole is actually sawdust noodle casserole! I mixed up some egg noodles (dry, not cooked) with sawdust, flex glue, a dab of ecru acrylic paint, and a few of those mardi gras peas. The benefit of the flex glue sauce is that it holds the pasta down on its own. I sprinkled a bit more sawdust on top for extra texture.

The gooey chocolate brownie was a bonus. I happened to have a few tablespoons of Smooth-On Flex Foam it left over from a previous project. Using Smooth-On's So Strong brown pigment, I colored the foam, and poured it into the tray.

Once it was all together, I glued a fork in, and we sent it to stage!

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