My art career has been full of projects where I try something new by adding a fine detail and then go with this idea, repeating it as necessary. After a few hundred times I decide it really is cool, until i really think about it and realize I am actually only a fraction of the way through a project. Then I wonder if it is really worth the effort…. but decide it really is. Those silly little details are what separates our work from the rest. Today, we decided some barnacles would look cool on the submarine. I did a little research and found that they thrive at the waterline of a boat and then diminish as the water gets deeper. The waterline of our submersible was drawn on using a laser level. it will go through the portholes (which are yet to be added). The barnacles are sculpted by firmly pressing on a little ball of sculpting epoxy and then poking a hole in the centre and adding some detail with a custom made tool. It sounds easy - and is, until you realize how many barnacles can live on a six foot long submersible. Four hours of labour got me about one third of the way around the sub. Cool never comes easy it seems. :)
Rivets galore!
The fish submersible for our IAAPA trade show booth is coming along nicely and getting larger by the minute. I had great fun sculpting the hatch one the top today plus the lower fin detail. The outside, save the front end, is now substantially complete. The electrical work is finished and working with two light sources inside the sub plus the exterior lantern. I have one more day of sculpt work to complete the interior and then it will be time to decide how we want the mouth will appear. I’m now leaning towards an open jaw with some great looking teeth.
The lights are on!
The awesome old truck sound effects demanded that I add many more visual details to make the sounds plausible and believable. That meant (to start) that I add a well worn exhaust system and some rattly headlights (necessarily not well aimed). The wiring and electrical components are now tucked into position and the truck body is mounted to the frame and ready for the sculpting to begin. I can hardly wait to begin that process! Stay tuned…
