Now I've Gone and Done It!

Today I finally popped the question to my long suffering girlfriend, Janis. We became engaged at our favorite haunt, Hyperion Espresso. Janis, being the good senior NCO and combat veteran, had all the particulars of our nuptials worked out months ago......the only missing thing was the official proposal. So this week I got permission from her mother Dolores and her brother Carl. This was followed by a trip to the local newspaper, the Free Lance-Star and setting up an engagement announcement in the Sunday edition. I had to surprise her somehow, and I'm happy to report that the announcement in the paper did the trick.

We'll be tying the knot on October 10, 2010 at the newly completed chapel at the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

Here's the entry in the paper.

Finished......Sort Of

The Grenadier

An actual Marine grenadier in combat during Operation Steel Curtain, Ubaydi, Iraq-2005

Well, the Grenadier is finished.....sort of. The next step in the creative process is to take what I've just completed to a foundry to be cast in bronze. This piece will be cast using the lost wax technique. The next step in this process is for a foundry to make a series of molds. These molds will then be used to cast hollow wax versions of what you see in the top picture. The wax facsimiles will then be coated, both inside and out, with silica. Once fully prepped with the silica the wax will be melted out as the ceramic is baked, hence the term lost wax. The final mold is then filled with molten bronze and allowed to cool. Once cooled the work is then hit with everything from large hammers to small delicate drills to dislodge the ceramic. In the final steps the bronze will be buffed, sandblasted, treated to an acid bath to create the surface patina, and given a final coat of bowling alley wax.

In future posts I'll show you the lost wax process as it unfolds.