Completed Wedding Sculpt

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Amazing progress Jamie and it looks liek it is all coming together now, bike is looking fantastic mate and figures look like they are shaping up well now also.

Steve(y)
 
Thanks for looking in guys.

OK, confession time.

although unhappy with the resultant heads, and finish of the figures, I had to commit paint to them.

My apologies ahead of time, there are some WIP shots, however, I will have to wait till I catch up with both the camera and the sculpt before I can post. Friday arvo, likely as not.

Back to the sculpt.

What makes me unhappy with my efforts; coarse finish, visible tool marks, improper drapery, all the evidence of a rush job. Sigh.
Also, disparity of scale between the bike and the figures - the bike is monstrously huge, compared to the figures......
Lack of test fitting the figures during construction to ensure a smooth fit, as well as properly aligning figures.....

I will admit, it was a hugely ambitious step up for me, and I well and truly moved outside my comfort zone.

What I learned from doing this project
Murphys law on experts; listen to the guy who says it will take the longest, cost the most, and be the most challenging :)

A bit more seriously now.....
- I have the capacity to become a far better putty pusher and painter after this project, then I was previously.
- far from being deterred, the effort involved has only encouraged me to really apply myself to the task at hand, whatever the task
- Nothing of value, ever came easily; it must be earned through time and effort
- And a lot of practice. (Einion has a really great saying in an old post about something about the ratio between effort and result)
- Dont be afraid to rework something if it needs it. Take the time.
- Balance time, where possible.
- back myself, and press on, particularly when it seems easier to tools down, and junk the project. That is when the biggest break throughs happen.
- try new stuff, new techniques, new ideas. Might not work for this project, might work for a future one!

Still, it will be hard to deny, this project is from a loving place, and the couple will be the only ones in the room to receive such a gift.

Tony,
the sculpt is currently halfway between Here and Adelaide, and will have some final assembly (fragile bits, such as turn indicators and rear view mirrors) as well as some expected paint touch ups.

Carl,
thanks for the look in; nowhere near as glamorous as some heroic journey, still, marks for ambition, as well as committing to a result

Steve,
thanks for the tips on face sculpting, worked for me. I still have a lot more practice to go on this, yet by using the system you recommended, I made much better progress.

The end of this project ended as a grind - start at 7 in the morning, stopping for breaks, food and water, and then back to it. Pull up at midnight, grab 4 hours sleep, then return to put as many finishing touches on this as possible.

After three hours work, pack it, box it up along with some tools and equipment needed for the other end, clean up eat, go to work.......So you'll have to wait for some pics to be posted, thanks for your patience!

Cheers,
and off to catch up on some sleep......
 
Project nearing completion pix

OK, this was in the home stretch,

Was either up way too late, or getting up early, to work on the everything coming together.

Here the bike is attached to the groundwork.

Soldered on a I shape cross beam, bent a piece of wire into an inverted squared U. Sanded down the base of the U, so it fitted snugly into the I beam.

Then soldered it for a nice strong joint.

Most of the bike had been prepainted now, as well as things like a battery (the white square with the pink top), some plumbing to add visual interest, and fill some holes. Plus bits and bobs stuck on, in a way that looks mechanical.
Plus, here is the sculpt of Mish, worked out OK, nowhere near competition standard.

The likeness could have been a lot closer, captured the essentials though.

Still, would have been nice to have another month to do it properly......
 

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Bride shown, now how about the Groom?

Primed the figures, then laid down the first coat with the airbrush (great tool, glad I spent the time learning how to drive it!)

As I said in an earlier post, the finish is nowhere near competition standards.

I did try my hand at some wrinkles and drapery (like the jeans and the jackets) I have more practice to go, though.

Test fitting the figures to the bike, Now it really looks like it's coming together.

At this point, I think I had secured the figures with 5 minute two part epoxy, and wandered off to bed.

Pending, at this point, Ground work details, bike "furniture (like indicators, some of the wiring, license plate, etc) as well as the hands and shading on the figures....no big task, right....?
 

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Mission accomplished!

All done and dusted.

There were a few hundred pictures taken at the wedding, and some were of the Wedding Sculpt.

I waited until I had to give a speech, and then presented them their gift.

(It was only last night too.....wow)

So after we finished last night, we returned home after a hearty breakfast at the local pub.

So, earlier this afternoon, Ben & Mish (now Mr & Mrs Stokes) agreed to a few snaps of them with their little gift.

They are very pleased and happy with it (Cool and Unique are some of the more common words used) and were quite blown away by the gesture itself.

Understandably, it received a mixed welcome at the reception. Some said t was nice, some didn't give it a second glace, while other asked on how I made it.
Only a handful saw how much time and effort had gone into it.

Which I didn't mind, so long as Ben & Mish were happy with it.

So here are a few shots of Ben and Mish with the gift.

A few little details I missed out on earlier.

Ben likes Bikes, and he chose the colour.
Mish is a big fan of Apple products, and is a tech head/ self confessed geek.

Ben has a tattoo of an Australian flag on his shoulder, and there is one on his jacket the kinda matches.

Mish has an Apple logo on the back of her jacket, in one of her favorite colours, pink.

The licence plate on the back has the following. B M (heart) 10.4.10

Which is for Ben Michelle plus date of wedding.

There is a little iPad, which has a little catchphrase these two use as a term of endearment between each other.

Mish has in her hand a bouquet of Cherry blossoms, for luck.

And the little road sign has the symbols for Double Happiness, big thing for wedding with a Chinese theme to them.

Kamizukuri products were used for the cherry blossoms.

Wrap up time.....

I'll revisit some of these, see if I can alter the pictures when I am at my usual computer.

Next, the thank-you list!
 

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Thank You, Family and Freinds

OK,
time for some gratitude.

First, to Ben and Mish, for consenting to the idea, sending me reference pictures when they could, even while organising the wedding.

Senior Sargent David Bretel, Victoria Police (retired) for his insights onto motorbikes, riding them, and construction tips, warmly appreciated.

Steph Bretel, for letting me claim some work space, and her patience as I ground my way through this project.

The team at East Coast plastics, the display case eliminated a lot of stress with regards to transport and display.

Here on the Planet,
a big thanks to Ian Harries, of Empire Hobbies, for the diorama materials he sent me; What I got to use made everything so much faster and easier.

And the fellows who offered words of encouragement and feedback; stuff like that makes it easier to push on when the going is a bit tough.
(In no particular order)
Tony Dawe, Joe Hudson, Marc van Megroot, Carl Barton, Ken Farrrar, Steve Readdie, Paul Toma, Ian Fianges, Roger Newsome.


Thanks all, it couldn't have been done with out you.

And, a few shots of Ben and Mish playing around for the Camera.

Congratulations and best wishes to you both,

Cheers
 

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