Crustacean creation complete

Painting the crab submersible was fun from beginning to end. I began with two base coats of gold. Then I did a blend coat with the gold on the bottom and a blend to a deep red on the top. The model instantly came to life.

Once the preliminary colours had a chance to dry thoroughly I started in with the glazes. I started with the bottom of the model. Because I was working alone and the complexity of the shapes I decided to use a small spray gun to apply the glaze in a hurry. Once I had applied the glaze I judiciously wiped it off with a soft towel. Then I worked my way upwards to the top of the piece, first spraying on the glaze and then wiping it off with the towels.  

Once the submersible was done I put the model under the fans to cure. Then multiple coats of taupe paint were slathered on the base and then allowed to dry. A green algae was then sponged on in a random fashion, primarily around the rocks.  Then it was back under the fans before another spray of dark glaze. Once the glaze was dry I applied a some gold dry brush for a little bling and sparkle.

Assembling the crab submersible

Building the crab submersible model proved to be a whole lot of fun! Peter started the assembly but didn't get very far before he was called away to other things. With the deadline beginning to press I took up where he left off. We crated a rough shape by hand with the four pound foam.

I did a quick coat of sculpting epoxy and then mounted the leg and claw bases. To keep things aligned I carved small support blocks from the four pound foam and propped everything in place.  Then I let it all set up overnight.

 After leaving it harden overnight I could work on the piece easily without having things slide around or droop. I drilled for the supporting dowel and mounted the body at the right height and angle. Then it was a matter of gluing on the balance of the pieces and mounting them to the base board. Easy. Once I had sculpted the undersides and added the detail on the lower body I again set it to the side to harden.

With the piece set up I could handle it easier without fear of handling the fragile model. I spent a little time adding the extra details. Once it had set up again (a couple of hours) I could add some primer, primarily to add more texture.

Tomorrow I'll spend a few minutes bending some wire and gluing it in place to simulate hydraulic hoses and electrical lines. Then we'll be ready to begin the paint process. It's going to be fun!

Feeling crabby!

Peter had first dibs on the sculpting of the crab submarine but he was called away to do other things. With the deadline quickly approaching that meant the fun job fell to me. I wasted no time in getting busy! I was feeling crabby!

Peter had done a little work and set the direction of the project. So I mixed up a little sculpting epoxy and got to work. I've learned to build a stable shell and structure initially. Once that sets I'll begin the detail, tomorrow. Temporary stands kept everything in line until it sets. Imagine this thing at full size! It will be a little over seven feet tall and about twelve feet long! The kids are going to love climbing inside!

Adding a little color

Two of the models are now in the paint stage and coming along nicely.  It won't be long until they are finished.

The little tugboat is sporting all of it's base colors and is ready for the first of it's glazes.

Start of sunken ship sculpt

Angie and I made good progress on the sunken ship model today in two one hour sculpting sessions. She mixed the epoxy while I sculpted, except what I was called away and she got to do the little crab on the rock beside the ship. In an hour or two at most tomorrow we should have this thing ready for paint.  Since its a study model to be used to talk to sponsors of the attraction I didn't overly fret about detail, instead concentrating on capturing the story and mood. It's coming together nicely and should paint up pretty nice. Stay tuned...

Sub model - part one

The second project study model we are building is a submarine. But it's not a typical sub. This one is designed to appeal to kids... something they would imagine to explore the deep. The model will be a combination of CNC and hand sculpting. As always it started with a concept.

 I drew the needed vectors for the claws, legs and tanks in EnRoute.

Then I began building the reliefs. The cylinders for the legs was first. I used the pill shaped vector to create a round shape using the dome tool. Then the piston rod in the same fashion.

I then created a zero height relief which I would use to trim the cylinder to length using the merge highest function.

 Then I began building the various relief - all as individual pieces.

The larger parts of the legs and claws were modified by sinking the centre portions.

 The rivets and pins were added to the reliefs using the dome tool.

 The dome tool was again used to create the ballast tanks.

 I then combined all of the reliefs to make the legs and claws one piece.

I then nested all of the pieces and created a zero height relief big enough to accommodate all of the pieces plus a border big enough to accept the bits I would be using. The pieces were merged to this base plate using the MERBE HIGHEST command. It was then ready for tool pathing and was sent off to the MultiCam to be cut from 1 sheet of 30 lb Precision Board. I purposely left an onion skin so the tiny pieces wouldn't remove themselves from the vacuum table. Tomorrow we'll glue them up and begin hand sculpting the rest of the crab.

Four pound delight

I've been a vocal advocate for thirty pound foam for a long time. For CNC routing that isn't about to change. But occasionally we build small study models which require lots of hand work. Thirty pound Precision Board, our material of usual choice, is tough to work by hand - especially at this scale. The solution was easy. Since we are only using the foam to block our our basic shapes and then putting a layer of sculpting epoxy over the entire surface the hardness of the foam wasn't an issue. Only the time it takes to create the rough shape is important. In our last order of Precision Board I asked them to include a couple of three inch thick sheets of four pound foam. It is so soft you can almost carve it with your fingers. I've used styrofoam for this purpose in the past but it doesn't take the sculpting epoxy very well.

I am building a small study model of a sunken paddle wheeler for an upcoming project. I sketched out the shape onto the board with a felt marker and then used a hand saw to rough out the shape.  It only took a few minutes to carve the complex shape out of the block, and a few minutes more to use a two part epoxy to glue the pieces together. Tomorrow I'll start adding the detailed epoxy skin. Stay tuned for a report on how the foam works in the next few days...