Mr. Ball, Senior - 1948

[Dan Morton]

These are all WIP shots of one of the two figures I'm working on for Dave Cox. Taken in some nice July Nebraska sunshine. This is supposed to be Mr. Edward Victor Ball in 1948 as he was leaving the RAF. If you remember the earlier postings, the idea is to do two "carte visite" photos as if Mr. Ball had his portrait done in the same photo studio twice - 1918 and 1948. Hence the unusual pose - hey, that's how the portrait photographers did it back then, don't blame me! :lol: There is a Leica camera and an RAF cap in this piece. They are supposed to be laying on a miniature table that Dave is providing. Mr. Ball was a photog for the RAF, hence the camera. Oh yes, I also included the busby for the younger Mr. Ball figure. The rest of my weekend will be spent doing the piping on that figure's uniform.

A word about the RAF LCpl stripes. They actually were big. Maybe it is the dark grey putty, maybe the photos, I don't know. They look too big, but checking a good quality web photo against sleeve seams vs size of the stripes, they measure right. The eagle looks too large also, but again, it's measures right size.
As always, I post these for your comments and critique. Thanks for lookin'!

All the best,
Dan

 

[John Long]

Probably your best work yet Dan. I think the back across the shoulders should be fuller. He appears to be leaning forward. If you would add some mass to the upper back I feel it would look better. Nice lines and details.

 

[Dan Morton]

Great suggestion, John ! I'll do that!

All the best,
Dan

 

[Christos]

Very nice Dan!
my compliments
christos

 

[DaveCox]

Very nice Dan. I'm going to enjoy painting these two up for my wife.
Only one problem - he should have the sidecap that was in the photos that I sent, not the officers type cap that you've made. When on the table this would look flat.

 

[Dan Morton]

Chris and Dave - Thanks for your comments. Since I took the photos I've re-done the back as John suggested and it does look much better, I must admit. As to the hat, Dave, I thought that round cap was what you wanted. Back when I was stationed in UK in the 80s, I visited numerous RAF bases and I thought I remembered seeing RAF NCOs wear either cap. Anyway no problem, I can do the flat cap.

All the best,
Dan

 

[DaveCox]

Nowadays the NCO may wear the 'Service Cap', but in 1948 it was still wartime uniform, and the 'sidecap' was general wear - sorry if I've mislead you somewhere!
I would definitely prefer the sidecap if it's not too much trouble. BTW - EVB didn't actually think much of this headgear - it tended to stick up at the front and back when worn - he described it (if I may use the expression on the forum) as looking like "two tits on a tart".

 

[Dan Morton]

Dave - No worries, mate. The flat hat won't be a problem. Actually considerably easier than the round one. Altho perhaps I won't do it today. Just spent about an hour trying to do the piping on the KTRHA tunic. Ended by tearing all of the putty off. Ah, well..it's only putty and tomorrow or even later today, I'll give it another try. I made the mistake of mixing some Duro with MS, thinking that that would give the strings of putty used to make the piping some elasticity. Nutz! I'm about to conclude I can't work with that stuff.

BTW I'm home on vacation this week. My oldest son and his wife are flying in to spend the week with us. So probably not much sculptin'...

All the best,
Dan

 

[garyjd]

Dan, Sorry I did not jumped on board this thread sooner. After looking at the pictures I totally agree with John Long's observations. Aside from that you're doing a good job on the figure. Keep it up.~Gary

 

[Dan Morton]

Thank you Gary! I fixed the back problem and it does look much more realistic. Essentially that figure is done and I'm now concentrating on the younger figure. The piping is giving me fits, but I'll manage it! I used wire for the end loops of the piping and tried to go back and link the loops up with putty, but the Duro and MS mix wouldn't stick properly, etc., etc. Several problems all at once. We'll try it again.

All the best,
Dan

 

[garyjd]

Dan, I was just thinking. Do you think it might work to make a jig for the various parts of piping to insure each piece is looped exactly alike?~Gary

 

[Dan Morton]

Gary - Man, are you clairvoyant or something? That is precisely what I did do! A very, very simple jig. I embedded a pin in wood and then secured it with putty. After it all hardened, all I had to do was make a single wire loop, pull it tight from both ends and they all came out nearly the same size. Clip them off short - ouila. Worked a treat. Now I've glued all of the loops down where they should be on the tunic and it is a matter of connecting them with very thin spaghetti of putty. Mighty thin! Now - if you have an idea for making the very thin spaghetti come out the same diameter - I'm all ears, 'cos I'm clueless on that one.

All the best,
Dan