Testing More Metals

Resin and fibreglass before silver leaf.

Using fibreglass to reinforce the resin was vital, as the process of pulling the resin away from the mould cracked the resin in a previous test. 

Resin, fibreglass and silver leaf

After talking to Ann about electroplating, she said the university doesn't have the facilities to do that method, so I had to figure out other ways of working around the issue. She recommended I gild the resin with silver leaf. Using genuine silver leaf I coated the resin, but this just looked tacky again. 

Aprox. 0.2mm Aluminium

Seeing how far the aluminium can stretch I rolled out thinner than I had before. I bent this one using my hands only - no tools. It was too thin, and rolling the metal too thinly lost the shiny silver tone. 

Gold coated aluminium 

Second test for the coated (gold sidled) aluminium. I burnt this aluminium to see how far it could burn, and how much I could heat it as aluminium doesn't take long to anneal. The texture and pattern created amazing details within the material, and I think this will be something I could develop in the future. 

However, when I attempted to mould this metal it fractured, tearing like paper. This is a note to take about overheating aluminium. 

0.7mm Aluminium. 

Testing slightly thicker aluminium. This didn't bend as easily and didn't create those beautiful fluid curves I desired. 

Overheating Aluminium.

Just pushing the boundaries and seeing how far I could heat aluminium. It creates these wonderful creases. 

Comparing aluminium with resin & silver leaf.

The aluminium looks so much more fluid, solid, real and captivating to the viewer than its silver leaf & resin counterpart.  Although the silver leaf did really enhance the resins look and create this 

Comparing 0.5mm Aluminium (top) and 0.7mm Aluminium (bottom)

I'm considering ordering a larger meter squared aluminium and doing a larger sculpture version of this but I needed to test thoroughly which method and which weight & thickness would give me the desired look. 

Reflection& Development:

• The 0.5mm was easy to work with, and created a good shine, but now looking at it compared to the 0.7, the 0.7 looks more fluid and has thicker curves and bends. It's a difficult one, but I will order more of the 0.5mm to begin with.