As many of you know, I use Fishstone concrete products exclusively for my large scale public art as well as the small stuff. As a partner at Fishstone, testing and developing products for all types of applications has been a key role for me over the last fourteen years.
Product choice is determined by a couple of main factors;
Size of project and interior vs exterior application.
For the large outdoor public sculptures, reinforcement and durability is key. Choosing a GFRC, Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete mix in combination with a high detail carving mix is used. The vertical mix is sticky and has great working time.......it's easy to work with after 4 hours as it's firm but not yet hard so I can carve with sculpting tools fine details. It also has super hardness after 2 days so I can use my diamond grinders and polishing tools to get a super smooth finish like polished stone.
THE MIX
Base Coat/Structure Coats
I use the Fishstone GFRC Bag Mix or the Standard HP50 with GFRC ADPAC for the base (structure coat) which includes AR Glass Fiber, scrim and C-Grid carbon Fiber. This is applied on top of the steel armature and EPS foam body that is carved to basic form.
Detail coats/Final Coat
The Fishstone Vertical Carving mix is used for outer/final coat. Final shape and detail is made with these coats. It has a two hour soft working time and 4 hour firm working time. I use the Kong Acrylic Polymer/water blend to hydrate between coats.
The engineering of using the GFRC coat in combination with steel armature gives me the reassurance my pieces can be moved, climbed on and endure 4 seasons of climate change. Most of my projects have been in a natural off white color, the natural color of both mixes. I usually highlight the negative spaces and curves with a grey or brown wash to give the sculpture more depth and patina. Each piece is sealed, for the outdoor public pieces I use U-SEAL, I can add additional coats on site and apply as the piece ages, but most importantly the sealer is excellent in defense of graffiti and foot traffic.
Below are images of the main products used in the mixes, all can be found with detailed info. on the Fishstone website, link is below pics.
for more info on the products visit https://concretecountertopsupply.com/
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