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THE CASTING

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The conversion of the ex-GTO aluminium into the 25mm long miniature Essence of Form GTO sculptures starts with the creation of a metal master pattern, from which in effect every casting will faithfully replicate.

The casting process used is the ‘lost wax’ procedure, used for all higher quality jewellery. Every aluminium GTO sculpture starts with a wax effigy, many of which will be built into a ‘tree’ and dunked into a metal flask filled with liquid clay-like material. The flask is allowed to harden, then inverted and heated in an oven to melt the wax so it runs out leaving a void within the flask the shape of the tree and sculptures, into which later molten metal will be poured.

Pieces of the ex-GTO aluminium body shell, from which ovals for plates and discs for a previous watch project have been cut, are melted until molten...

… and then the metal is poured into a casting flask.

Once the metal has cooled sufficiently and solidified, the casting flask is dunked into water to soften the casting compound and start to reveal the tree of miniature GTOs.

The miniature GTO sculptures will be cut off and meticulously polished, with tiny elements of red enamel applied to the three D air inlets on the bonnet, the only detail on the pieces. Sculpted to TMB’s ‘Essence of Form’ shape first created in 2008, it’s intriguing that these little icons are made of original 1962 250 GTO body shell - in other words from the actual form of the car itself.