"Creative Weapon" A Vacuform/wood sculpture by Becky Steele (Process pics/vid included!)

My first time vacuum forming was one of the funnest art projects I have ever done!

If you don't know, Vacuum forming is where a sheet of plastic is heated to a forming temperature, stretched onto a single-surface mold, and forced against the mold by a vacuum in a Vacuform machine. If you don't have access to a vacuum form machine you can make a DIY one on videos on youtube.

To get a visual of the process check out the Vacuforming of my 'Creative Weapon' sculpture:

Whaaaalaaaa!! my shark hat was born!

After cutting it out there was little slit holes on the mouth so I filled those in with a two-part product called "Bondo" which is normally used as an automotive body filler. It creates a strong bond that can be sanded till smooth and perfect.

After that I used spackling paste and Epoxy to attach my shark friend to a wood circle I cut out with a jig-saw. I applied a very thin layer of spackle and then very thin layers of epoxy so that I could get the smoothest transition possible.

Then I painted it all white with gesso as a primer :)

Next was time to figure out the piano teeth. I carved them all individually with a band saw and disc sander and numbered them so It would be easier to put them all in the right place.

Then I used Epoxy to glue them all in place

Once they were all there I finished up by painting the shark and the platform.

Here is another photo of it completed from when I brought it with me to live paint at Bside! (Drum n bass event in Los Angeles)

I'm pretty happy with how it came out and would definitely do another vacuform project! So many possibilities!