Rob Riches "Junior Natural World Bodybuilding Champion"

About The Piece

The Rob Riches sculpture is Limited to 250 pieces. 230 pieces are presented in pewter and 20 are presented in a white finish. Each piece has a plaque with the Limited Edition Number. Each piece also comes with a signed Certificate of Authenticity. You may purchase this piece from our website. Click on the link below

Purchase Rob Riches Sculpture

Why Make The Piece?

Ken was asked back in 2004 about his business ventures "What of tomorrow? Where is it all going?" The answer, he explained… "It's in the Stars. I mean Star's, Madonna, Beckham, Branson, Politicians, and Royalty etc." And 3 years later he has provided us with the Rob Riches piece, a real star with the perfect torso, the epitome of Ken's life casting business. Ken says, "The real exciting thing about this piece is it's of a young man. We have always been asked at previous shows, "What about guys," well I'd like to think we have brought it to you with bells on! Rob's a great guy with a great future, a real professional. This piece is the start to completing my career circle of life casting back where I started in the film industry. I know the business and would like to finish by recording the stars of today for tomorrow."

About Rob Riches

Who am I? My name is Rob Riches. I am the Junior World Natural Bodybuilding Champion after wining Musclemania in Hollywood, CA in November 2006. Musclemania is the Worlds biggest natural bodybuilding competition, and I competed against finalists who had won qualifiers in their home countries. I had won the Fitness Britain show in September 2006, enabling me to enter the World Finals even though I had to finance the trip myself. I have also won many natural bodybuilding shows in the UK, whereby they employ a strict policy of no anabolic steroids, and so all competitors are tested by urinalysis and polygraphs. I have won the middleweight British qualifiers held in London for the two only natural bodybuilding organizations in the UK. These are the British Natural Bodybuilding Federation (BNBF), and the Natural Physiques Association (NPA). I have competed in over 9 competitions to date since starting only 2 years ago. I am well known on the natural circuit, and am currently placed 4th in the UK as a middleweight natural bodybuilder (under 80kg). Note: I am the youngest highest ranking competitor as the top 3 all have many more competitions under their belt and are between 4-11 years my senior. I plan to be British Champion within 3 years being one of the youngest to do so.

History. My background is in Personal Training and Sports Nutrition (I am qualified as a NASM fitness professional and a Resisted Exercise Professional). I studied for Film Production degree at Surrey University (UK), graduating with a BSc in 2005. I have been able to combine my two interests by filming and producing a feature length promotional DVD for the sports nutritional company that sponsors me (LA Muscle - www.lamuscle.com), showcasing 21 of the UK's top athletes and fitness professionals, which also included me). 100,000 copies were made and distributed throughout the UK, which also included advertisements on the back on 60 London red buses, showing me as one of the featured models.

I have been associated with LA Muscle - Europe's largest sports nutrition specialist company, for over 3 years now, and am one of their highest profiled sponsored athletes. They have been with me since the beginning, advising me on which competition to first enter, and helping gain me exposure as one of the most promising up-and-coming natural athletes.

They have now offered me my own section as the Ab doctor entitled 'Ask Rob', which will show me as their resident expert on training, fitness, nutrition and supplement advise. I will also be working with them closely in the future on further supplements to be launched, including appearing on one of the labels. I also have my own LA Muscle website (www.lamuscle.com/robriches) which is the highest ranking website of all the LA Muscle sponsored athletes.

Rob Riches Life Cast Experience in His Words

Sunday 5th August.

I had met Ken (Clarke) at a trade show in 2006 and was fascinated by what he was doing. He was casting a woman's breast in what seemed to be plaster of Paris in lightening speed, and the mold that was made from the casting was so life like it was unbelievable. I knew I had to get a casting done for myself, if anything just as a permanent reminder of the shape and condition that I was in as I was only a few weeks away from competing in the British Qualifier natural bodybuilding championships (which I won).
I introduced myself to Ken and his wife Jenny, and told them that I was interested in being cast. To my surprise they had not casted a male physique before that was marketed to the public as they catered mostly in female physiques and commissioned castings. They are very popular within the Erotica sector, after all - sex sells!

After talking with Ken and Jenny for about 30 minutes I had found out that Ken had worked in the film industry for the past 4 decades, working with film greats such as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, and had even made head casts of Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver. This guy was at the top of his game and I wanted to be a part of it. I also learned that Ken and Jenny owned the company 'pewtiful sculptures', which takes the castings Ken makes and has them made into pewter (a metallic like metal).

Unfortunately the timing was not right for both of us in 2006, and so it was only after I won my class at the Musclemania world finals in Hollywood that I felt I was in good shape to justify having a casting done, since the last time I was in as good a shape was before my first competition of 2006, and even then I felt I would only get better towards the end of the year. I contacted Jenny informing her of my title win at the World finals, and told her that I was in the best shape I had been in and that it was the right time to do a casting. She agreed and we scheduled the casting for within a few months.

Just over one year from first meeting with Ken and Jenny I arrive at their house and was greeted by Jenny and welcomed into their home. I felt very comfortable as soon as I walked in, almost as if I were family. They had a beautiful home that was decorated with family portraits, iconic film images such as the scene from 'The Shining', and castings hung up on every wall. It was like an art gallery, with everywhere you looked telling a story. As we walked into the Kitchen I could see a whole line up of miniature-sized pewter sculptures depicting Marilyn Munroe, and other iconic figurines. Even when Ken came into the room to say Hi and talk about what we would be doing that day, I couldn't take my eyes from them. They just demand attention, and catch your eye from anywhere in the room.

Once I managed to pull myself away from imagining how I would look cast in Pewter and seeing myself as having a part in the film 'The Terminator', we spoke about the day ahead, which would include a photo shoot in Ken's studio upstairs, the first of 3 castings (My upper torso), and then lunch followed by a further two castings of my back and a smaller one consisting of my arm, shoulder and abs.

The photo shoot was to get some images that could be used as part of the promotion of the sculpture, and was to be shot against a black cloth background with several lights and filters spread throughout the room. It was like walking into a tardis and not what you would expect to see once through the door.

Ken started shooting, in black and white, which I love as I feel it gives the image more meaning and looks cool when you get the lighting right, which Ken had. Ken told me just to move around on the spot and imagine that he was not there as he wanted to create a sense of movement with a blurred image. After a few minutes I wasn't even aware that Ken was there, and just started moving about as if stretching out after going for one of my early morning hill runs. We then got to the serious, moody shots - my favourite, this time using height instead of movement. We wanted to create some powerful images that would compliment the power of the sculpture. Thinking along the lines of Greek Gods and Roman gladiators, I stopped swinging my arms about and throwing my head back, pulled my shoulders back, puffed out my chest and held my head high all the time while pulling in my abs. Ken lowered the height of the camera and started shooting upwards which gave the impression of power and authority. The two lamps in the room created really cool shadowing across my abs and over my chest. It gave a lot of depth to the image as well as a lot of feeling and a sense that the picture had a story behind it. Exactly what we wanted to create with the casting. Not just something that hangs on the wall and looks good, but one that would tell the story of commitment, sacrifice, passion, love and hard work. Everything that I had gone through during my training to win my competition.

From the shoot I went downstairs and out into the garage which Ken had converted into his casting studio. I had never seen anything like this, a space only the size of two garages wide, but again , like the upstairs studio, seemed much larger, filled from ceiling to floor with body sculptures, all in white and all of women, except for one male physique that had been commissioned. I suddenly felt very privileged and proud to be having my body cast, especially in knowing that it would be the first to be marketed to the public.

As Jenny was preparing individual pots of the special mixture that would mold me, Ken showed me how the sculptures seem to come to life as you shine a light across them. He told me about how the sculptures that he makes are always at a slight angle as opposed to being flat. The sculptures are made to be able to hang from walls, taking up less space than a floor statue and making it far easier to transport to customers keeping overall costs down. The sculptures protruded from the wall about 7 inches out, keeping them relatively flush for what is actually a life size cast. 'It's all about the angle at which you cast the model', Ken says, for if the model were to be sculptured square on, covering the shoulders, chest and abdomen, and hung squarely on the wall, it would not catch the eye as much, and would seem flat. By standing or laying the person against a board that he has positioned up against the work surface, and padding one side out so that the person is at more of a 35 degree slant, the casting would hang as though the body is 'coming out' from the wall, and also because of the lines Ken makes when he is applying the mold, and detailing the casting after, the sculpture is never symmetrical, looking more like a slanted diamond shape. This creates 'the lines of eternity' Ken says, which keeps the image from ending.

Firstly I had to apply an oil over the area that is to be cast and then completely wipe it all off. This is to remove any of the skins oil, allowing the mold to pick up every little detail - even abrasions from tattoos!

Jenny and Ken prepare the ingredients in which they will mix up the substance that will mold me which Ken has developed over throughout his career and one that is very unique in the way it works. Ken has used a special mixture of ingredients that includes seaweed, that allows it to remain at the same consistency for 90 seconds and then sets during the following 10, creating an exact mold of the body parts it covered. This stuff can really mold anything you apply it to! Because its all organic, you can also eat it - to which Ken takes pride in putting it in his mouth to demonstrate this, although I can tell you he's never going to get a Michelin star for it though

I start warming up and doing a few exercises to pump up. Timing is critical and Ken must make sure that he covers the area that he wishes to mold, marking it out in red lipstick first, in under 90 seconds so that it will all set at the same time. Timing is also critical for me as 'the pump' effect will only last for a couple of minutes. Why do it? Well I always eat clean, wholesome, nutritious food, but when I have a photo shoot or competition coming up I normally manipulate factors in my diet such as water intake, carbohydrates and fats to help tighten up my skin and give me a lean look while still appearing to have fullness in my muscles. The downside of this is that it leaves me with little energy for those few days, which means to 'show my body at it's best' I need to create a pump effect by doing a serious of pushups and bicep curls using a large bungee cord. This pumps blood into my muscles that are being worked (and cast in this instance) and fills them up. The difference between 'not pumping up' and doing so may not appear to be that much, but when your body fat levels are low enough, it can mean the difference between looking flat and depleted, or muscular and sculpted. A look we were particular trying to recreate on this occasion.

After about 10 minutes of constant press ups, bicep curls, shoulder presses and dumbbell raises I was ready. I stretched my upper muscles out briefly, as they would now have to remain still for over 20 minutes and with just having pumped them fill of blood I did not want the blood pooling. I was like an athlete preparing for a race, except my race was to be won by remaining as still as possible and keep all of the right muscles tenses at the right time. A lot harder than you might think.

Ken positioned me up against this board that was at a slight angle, allowing me to rest some of my weight upon it, and also to reduce the effect of gravity from pulling the mold of me before it had fully set. I was acting as a ledge to which the cast would sit over, my chest and shoulders literally acting as a coat hanger. Ken placed a couple of foam pads behind me to make me more comfortable for the duration.

As soon as I was in position, Ken and Jenny hit the timer and went to work on mixing the paste that Ken would apply to me. As Jenny threw in the carefully measured out pots of powder into a bucket and poured in just enough water to make the mixture the same consistency as they have now done so for the past 12 years, Ken got stuck in with what can only be described as a whisk on the end of a power drill. His own creation I assumed, yet one that did the job perfectly. I remained up against the board, motionless, watching out the corner of my eye, the attack on this bucket with a modified power drill, as Ken was asking Jenny if she was ready to scoop the paste equally into two bowls that he would then use to cover my chest and abs. It seemed such an orchestrated routine that had been perfected over the years, and one that was fascinating to watch. After less than one minute from Jenny pouring the water into the powder, Ken had mixed it into a paste that would remain at the same consistency for exactly 90 seconds before setting, meaning he had to act fast to cover the area he had earlier marked out in lipstick on me.

The stopwatch was stopped and reset, ready for Ken to start the countdown before I needed to 'tighten it up'. He warned me that it would be cold when he first applied it although I didn't expect it to be quite so cold. He threw the first handful of pink goo onto me with such force it would have knocked a small child back. I braced myself for the second application but it didn't feel as hard. I eased from 100mph back down to around 60mph in terms of how hard I was tensing my abs.

110MPH

The coldness numbed my body, and like if you were to jump into a cold pool of water, your breathing starts to increase as you take shorter, sharper breaths. I could feel my breathing pattern start to increase, and therefore my chest starting to puff out more. I was concerned that I may start to push the mold of me by breathing too heavily, or that once it had set, I may damage the 'snapshot' by making big movements. I focused on controlling my breathing again, and started to go into a meditation to slow my heart rate down. It was a technique that I had learned through weight training so that I could hit the next exercise without feeling like I still needed to 'catch my breath' after the last one. It had helped me a lot during my competition days, and was now helping me a lot now.

I suddenly became aware of Ken asking Jenny how the clock was looking, as she relayed back to him how many seconds he had left. 'Yeah, it's ok' he said, 'we're doing just fine, you Ok Rob?' I didn't answer. I was having a bit of an out of body experience, almost looking at me being cast from across the room. It was a strange but satisfying moment.
Ken made eye contact with me. 'How you doing Rob, you alright?' I could here the concern in his voice. He wanted to know that I was ok, as we had just started, and I needed to keep this position for at least another 20 minutes. I gave him a wink and a smile. It was my way of saying I'm ok without moving too much as I didn't want to disrupt the paste that was around my neck. Ken smiled back, and continued applying the last small handfuls of paste over my right shoulder.

'Here it comes Rob, are you ready' He said. It was like I was a sprinter in a relay, awaiting the final runner to pass me the baton that I would carry across the last leg of the race. 'Get ready to start to go to 100' he said, with a hint of satisfaction in his voice mixed with excitement, knowing that these next 10 seconds will create the mold that the sculpture will be handmade from, and that I had been training for at least the past 4 months. I took one last breath of air in, being careful not to expand my chest too much, and blew it all out through my mouth while pulling in my stomach muscles and all around my waist. The pulling in maneuver as its called in the fitness sector. I took small breaths in through my nose as I held my abs in tight, squeezing every muscle in my body as though I were back competing on stage. I could feel the mixture starting to harden. It was strange, as all of a sudden this goo that had been on me for the past minute and a half had all of a sudden started to harden. It was a testament to Ken's ability as a sculpture and the time and development he had put into creating such a unique mixture

'Ok , you can ease back to 30 again' Ken said. I didn't. I kept them pulled in tight only easing back slightly when I started to feel fatigue. Ken then went to work to apply Hessian strips dripped in plaster of Paris to set over the mold so that when he lifts it off it would remain intact, after all, the mold was just like play-dough and so would collapse if not supported. The plaster of Paris took about 20 minutes to apply and set, with Ken using lengths of wood acting as a splint for greater support. Fortunately I didn't have to remain at '100mph' for the full casting although I did have to keep still so as not to disrupt the mold. Once I had 'pulled it in' for the snapshot, I could 'breathe easy' and come back down to 30mph, as Ken would tell me. Although for me, it was still like 70-80mph.

All of the time Ken was working on me like a mad man his wife Jenny was constantly moving about to help Ken mix the ingredients for the paste, and to get the plaster of Paris ready for when Ken would need it to apply. She would also be ducking and diving around Ken, helping to keep hold of things in place, or wipe away splats of plaster from me. All of the time they kept in amazing sync and I felt like they could have done it all with their eyes closed the amount of times they had gone through this routine. It was a real display of teamwork and simply amazing to watch them both work.

Once the plaster had set, Ken slowly eased it back and forth on me, as I slowly started to move again. Ken's job though was far from over, and as soon as he had it off, he was off again, this time spraying the inside of the cast - the mold of me, with a mist of water to stop it from drying out, and then wrapping it in cellophane to protect it from the air. It was as if it were a newborn baby and Ken was the midwife looking after it. It really showed that he put all of his love and energy into his work. I knew that Ken would do the casting justice. After all, the hard work had been taken care off - months before in the gym. Ken's job was not an easy one though, yet one he made look easy, by creating the perfect 'snapshot' of me to make it as real as he could. Like myself with looking after my body and taking care of what I put in it, Ken shared the same passion for his work as I did for mine.

As Ken looked after the cast, Jenny saw to me that I was ok and had everything that I needed. Many people who have been cast need to take some time after to 'come round' as they have had to remain very still for a prolonged time - something I had practice in doing for my fitness competitions when I had to hold every muscle tensed for a prolonged time, although nowhere near as long as 20 minutes, but I was on stage for nearly that length, and with the casting I did not have to hold every muscle tight for any longer than 10 seconds, and that was only my abs, chest and biceps. Still, even for a conditioned athlete like myself, you need to be aware that you can't just 'start moving about' after the casting as you could pull a muscle, so I sat down with a cup of coffee and started to 'awake' from my trance.

Once I was up on my feet again I could see the impression I had left on the mold. It was incredible. You could see every little detail. I felt a chill go up my spine , feeling like I was looking down on myself again, which I was. It was a very special moment for me, as it was for Ken and Jenny too. This was to be the first male sculpture they would market to the public in 12 years of business. We went into the kitchen and celebrated together.

Launching The Rob Riches Piece at Erotica '07

If you are a regular visitor to the Erotica Show you should be fully aware of Ken Clarke's work. His career has taken him from working on several of the biggest films of the twentieth century to casting intimate sculptures from moulds of people's bodies. Ken Clarke is well known at the show for being one of the founder members of the Guild of Erotic Artists.

For a complete Ken Clarke Filmography click here; please do it's very impressive!

Filmography

To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Erotica and incidentally our 10th appearance at the show; Ken Clarke's companies 'Pewtiful Sculpture' and 'Body Sculpture' would like to offer Erotica '07 visitors the opportunity of winning or purchasing this incredibly unique piece of art; a piece of sculpture we are launching at the show.

'Pewtiful Sculpture' are giving away a limited edition sculpture of Rob "Hollywood" Riches, a "Natural World Bodybuilding Champion" it is offered to the lucky winner in a limited, limited edition White finish with an embossed plaque of authenticity and displaying the number 12 of 250. In addition, we have a further 230 pieces in pewter for purchase to complete the 250 worldwide total.

To win the piece; all you have to do is be lucky enough to be the 50,000 person to walk through the doors at Olympia, it's that simple!

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