Dan Morton
A Fixture
For the Edward Victor Ball the younger figure I need to make some rather ornate piping on the tunic. The very tight tunic and trousers worn by the Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery are shown in the picture. Those are sculpted and came out OK so far. But next I need to make the rather ornate piping patterns.
Here's what I propose to do. Those of you with more sculpting experience please speak up and correct me where I go wrong, OK?
1. I plan to use approx. 0.30 mm lead wire (the diameter of rather fine sewing thread) for most of the piping. I scaled a picture of the above at the actual height of the figure - 113mm from bottom of feet to top of head (uncovered). The figure is not wearing a busby as in the picture. Basically I laid the 0.30 mm wire on top of the scaled picture and it looks perfect. Problem # 1 - Where can I get more 0.30 mm lead wire? I honestly don't recall where I got the 0.30 mm wire! I have quite a bit now, but certainly don't want to run out. Is lead wire the proper material for this or should I use soft copper wire if I can get it?
2. Next I plan to lay out a rough pattern for the piping on the figure by measuring the distances separating each circle and marking the location of each circle using a fine point indelible marker. I plan to make a simple tool of resin or metal to control the distances between the wires (piping) when they are fitted on the uniform. The idea behind this is just to keep the gaps the same distances apart.
3. For the piping at the bottom edges of the tunic, I plan to use putty, not wire. Why? Maybe you can't see it in the picture but they look like they are a slightly different thickness than the more ornate filigree piping.
4. What type of glue would work best to secure the wire to the putty surface? I wouldn't think superglue would work very well.
5. I've made a simple jig by embedding a small needle into a wood block. I've tried it and it seems to work out OK. Two turns of wire around the needle yield a loop with two separated wire ends. I'm using flat surface tweezers to pull and shape the wire.
6. Prior to fitting the wire onto the tunic I plan to flatten it a bit using the same wood block or a glass plate. How flattened should the wire be? What type tool works best for this? I would imagine the wire should be just flat enough to lay on the uniform but still look roughly circular. Tricky.
OK - that's my questions! Help!
All the best,
Dan
Here's what I propose to do. Those of you with more sculpting experience please speak up and correct me where I go wrong, OK?
1. I plan to use approx. 0.30 mm lead wire (the diameter of rather fine sewing thread) for most of the piping. I scaled a picture of the above at the actual height of the figure - 113mm from bottom of feet to top of head (uncovered). The figure is not wearing a busby as in the picture. Basically I laid the 0.30 mm wire on top of the scaled picture and it looks perfect. Problem # 1 - Where can I get more 0.30 mm lead wire? I honestly don't recall where I got the 0.30 mm wire! I have quite a bit now, but certainly don't want to run out. Is lead wire the proper material for this or should I use soft copper wire if I can get it?
2. Next I plan to lay out a rough pattern for the piping on the figure by measuring the distances separating each circle and marking the location of each circle using a fine point indelible marker. I plan to make a simple tool of resin or metal to control the distances between the wires (piping) when they are fitted on the uniform. The idea behind this is just to keep the gaps the same distances apart.
3. For the piping at the bottom edges of the tunic, I plan to use putty, not wire. Why? Maybe you can't see it in the picture but they look like they are a slightly different thickness than the more ornate filigree piping.
4. What type of glue would work best to secure the wire to the putty surface? I wouldn't think superglue would work very well.
5. I've made a simple jig by embedding a small needle into a wood block. I've tried it and it seems to work out OK. Two turns of wire around the needle yield a loop with two separated wire ends. I'm using flat surface tweezers to pull and shape the wire.
6. Prior to fitting the wire onto the tunic I plan to flatten it a bit using the same wood block or a glass plate. How flattened should the wire be? What type tool works best for this? I would imagine the wire should be just flat enough to lay on the uniform but still look roughly circular. Tricky.
OK - that's my questions! Help!
All the best,
Dan
