Can a silicone bust rot, deteriorate "melt down" over time??

[deaddog]

Hi
Can anyone help me? I have a silicone bust of a hyper realistic nature but the neck is damaged. It has the appearance of melting. Can anyone tell me, is this a result of mixing a "bad batch" of silicone when it was made ( if there even is such a thing), or what even caused this?. I was told by someone that silicone deteriorates over time and "breaks down". I have never heard this. Any help would be very appreciated. Also, is this piece worth keeping? Is it possible to repair this? I have enclosed some photos...

 

[OdiWan72]

Get in touch with Tom Spina, he is THE adress when it comes to these kind of questions

IMHO this doesn´t look like deterioration...
Was it displayed upright instead of laying flat (like it supposed to be)? The weight of the head seems to compress the neck section (see, how short it became), causing the large creases.

Markus

 

[DAVIDYR1]

Is it foam filled? It looks like the inside structure has failed, collapsed or cracked...whatever the case may be, the silicone is collapsing on itself by the looks of the inner structure no longer holding its shape.

Platinum Silicone will last a long time, 25 years or more even. If it was made from a Tin silicone, well Tins have a tendency to breakdown over time but if that's the case here, it would be splitting around the inner neck structure and not collapsing into it.

I think it's a structure problem and the silicone is just falling into some negative voids that have since developed.

Just speculating based on the photos of course. Tom, as suggested above is a surgeon when it comes to restoration work...LOL, no pun intended BTW.

Good Luck!

David

 

[deaddog]

Thanks for the opinions, guys. Yeah, I think you both hit the nail on the head. The head is very heavy and I think the lack of support with the inner structure has made it this way. I appreciate your input