The first of the four Mk XV1e Spitfire sculptures, which I have been commissioned to make, has now been successfully cast!
I have been working for some time on this commission for four Mk XV1 Spitfire Sculptures in cold-cast pewter, and now the first one has been successfully cast and polished!
I sculpted the original in wax over a rigid armature, and after a complicated mould was made by a specialist company, it was then cold-cast in pewter with a welded steel and stainless steel armature set inside it. The metal support which you can see protruding from the underside in one of the pictures above, is welded to a beautifully made armature inside the wing and fusilage.
The stainless steel tube will be partially sunk into a roundel of Cumbrian sandstone, so that the Spitfire appears to be banking close to the ground. The stone is from a local quarry; Natural Stone Direct, and is part of the core from when a chimney pot was made, so the waste product from that process.
An RAF roundel will be blasted into the top surface of the stone and the aeroplane’s registration will be also be blasted into the rounded edge.
I have recently discovered that my Grandfather, George Armstrong, serviced Rolls Royce Merlin engines of Spitfires during the Battle of Britain, which gives me a personal connection between him and this rather special commission…
I’ll post more images once this Mk XV1 Spitfire sculpture is mounted on it’s stone base, hopefully next week!
