Now that the Hatch/Door sculpt was complete, it was time to move on to the molding process yet again! First, I did a quick clay layup on my back porch.

Next, I made Hydrocal plaster jackets over the clay layup in my man cave.

After prying the mold apart and carefully cleaning off the clay layup, I took the sculpture and a 5-gallon bucket of Silicone to my friend David Lea's. Dave has a really nice degassing machine that removes the unwanted air from the silicone (first image bellow). Doing this extends the life of a mold. We carefully put the mold jackets back over the hatch sculpture and sealed it using plaster bandages. I remember after pouring the mold we had a hell of a time plugging the holes we used for letting the air escape. Silicone was everywhere! That night I learned to NEVER drill 1/4inch holes to bolt a mold together, it leaks. From now on I will clamp the mold together. Thank god for David's help that night!