Friday, February 6, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Modeling the blank with wax
I set about to smoothing out the wax that I applied yesterday by brush and making adjustments to make sure that the blank is slightly oversized.
I thought I would heat up a blade and use it to smooth the wax. That didn't work. The wax is soft enough that it can be smoothed out using regular sculpting tools
As all of us, I'm my own worst critic. I know the areas of the car that I think are poorly done, or could be better. I've had a change of heart after seeing this pictures. I've found that the pictures don't lie, and pic up details one might not notice with the eye. The pics of my styrofoam/wax blank are fantastic. I can't wait to get it into plaster.
Total: 77 h
I thought I would heat up a blade and use it to smooth the wax. That didn't work. The wax is soft enough that it can be smoothed out using regular sculpting tools
As all of us, I'm my own worst critic. I know the areas of the car that I think are poorly done, or could be better. I've had a change of heart after seeing this pictures. I've found that the pictures don't lie, and pic up details one might not notice with the eye. The pics of my styrofoam/wax blank are fantastic. I can't wait to get it into plaster.
Total: 77 h
new shirt
I got the shirt that I ordered off of ebay.it. Man it's the real deal. It's a bit big on me, but hell, I actually got a team shirt from a formula one team that raced in 1993.
If this picture is accurate, it means that I can use the shirt as a color reference for painting the model. I have to say that pictures do not do the colors on the sleeves justice. This red/orange is loud and florescent, as is the yellow
If this picture is accurate, it means that I can use the shirt as a color reference for painting the model. I have to say that pictures do not do the colors on the sleeves justice. This red/orange is loud and florescent, as is the yellow
Beginning the process of molding
Today I made a frame for molding the blank. I'm going to pour plaster over the car, so I need a box to pour it into that can be disassembled.
Total: 72 h
Total: 72 h
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Coating with wax
Based on my previous experiments, I'm going to brush paint candle wax on the Styrofoam blank to close the pores and smooth the surface
I'm set up with a whole bunch of tea lights
Painting wax
The result
Total: 70.5 h
I'm set up with a whole bunch of tea lights
Painting wax
The result
Total: 70.5 h
Covering materials experiment
It is clear that in order to mold my Styrofoam blank, I'm going to have to coat it with something to make it smoother. I've got a whole bunch of ideas, so I decided to simply experiment and see what works best.
I cut these shapes out of the leftover Styrofoam I have. They should fairly well represent the kind of complex shapes that are on the blank
My first experiment involved different ways of applying plaster
I also will attempt to cover with tempera paint, wax, and paper mache
Here are the results
Smearing plaster on with my finger worked fairly well, but did not fully cover the styrofoam
Applying plaster with a knive left uneven surfaces
I was going to attempt to paper mache with plaster, but the plaster set too quickly, so I tried to smear setting plaster with my finger, unfortunately I don't think that plaster is going to work because of the speed with which it dries.
Paper mache can't handle the complex curves
Tempera paint covered everything well, but maintained the texture of the Styrofoam
I think we have a winner. I painted candle wax from tea lights with a paintbrush. The result is a fairly smooth and uniform finish conforming to the contours of the Styrofoam without adding much bulk. An added plus is when molding I don't think the plaster will adhere to wax.
Dripping candle wax over the part didn't work as well as painting. I didn't give me much control over the application and created uneven surfaces and artifacts.
Since I had left over glue from the paper mache experiment, I covered the Styrofoam in watered down white Elmer's type glue. It didn't achieve the results I desire.
So it looks like I will be hand brushing melted tea light wax onto the Styrofoam blank. This has all the advantages: Cheap, easy to apply, easy to cleanup, workable after application, and should be resistant to adhesion with plaster during the mold making process.
Total: 69 h
I cut these shapes out of the leftover Styrofoam I have. They should fairly well represent the kind of complex shapes that are on the blank
My first experiment involved different ways of applying plaster
I also will attempt to cover with tempera paint, wax, and paper mache
Here are the results
Smearing plaster on with my finger worked fairly well, but did not fully cover the styrofoam
Applying plaster with a knive left uneven surfaces
I was going to attempt to paper mache with plaster, but the plaster set too quickly, so I tried to smear setting plaster with my finger, unfortunately I don't think that plaster is going to work because of the speed with which it dries.
Paper mache can't handle the complex curves
Tempera paint covered everything well, but maintained the texture of the Styrofoam
I think we have a winner. I painted candle wax from tea lights with a paintbrush. The result is a fairly smooth and uniform finish conforming to the contours of the Styrofoam without adding much bulk. An added plus is when molding I don't think the plaster will adhere to wax.
Dripping candle wax over the part didn't work as well as painting. I didn't give me much control over the application and created uneven surfaces and artifacts.
Since I had left over glue from the paper mache experiment, I covered the Styrofoam in watered down white Elmer's type glue. It didn't achieve the results I desire.
So it looks like I will be hand brushing melted tea light wax onto the Styrofoam blank. This has all the advantages: Cheap, easy to apply, easy to cleanup, workable after application, and should be resistant to adhesion with plaster during the mold making process.
Total: 69 h
I did it!
This was a great success, I modeled the car out of "gąbka florystyczna" or styrofoam used to make floral displays.
First, I had to make a tool. I bought a cheese cutter
And a really thin guitar string. The wire that was already in the cheese cutter was too thick and not wound taught enough
Took off the guide
Removed the wire that came with the cheese cutter. Here you can see how much thinner the guitar string is.
Reassembled the cheese cutter with the guitar string as the cutting element
Cut out my templates. Then I cut little "x"s in them and stuck toothpicks through them
And affixed them to the styrofoam block
Then, I cut the block. Even with the guitar string it was difficult. I think that this tool would work better if heated
Here's the shape from the top
And voila! I used clay sculpting tools to remove material very slowly and smooth out the curves
So the styrofoam proved to be an excellent material for sculpting. Only problem is that it is very coarse, and it will not mold in it's current condition. I will need to coat it with something to make it smooth so that it can be molded.
Total: 68 h
First, I had to make a tool. I bought a cheese cutter
And a really thin guitar string. The wire that was already in the cheese cutter was too thick and not wound taught enough
Took off the guide
Removed the wire that came with the cheese cutter. Here you can see how much thinner the guitar string is.
Reassembled the cheese cutter with the guitar string as the cutting element
Cut out my templates. Then I cut little "x"s in them and stuck toothpicks through them
And affixed them to the styrofoam block
Then, I cut the block. Even with the guitar string it was difficult. I think that this tool would work better if heated
Here's the shape from the top
And voila! I used clay sculpting tools to remove material very slowly and smooth out the curves
So the styrofoam proved to be an excellent material for sculpting. Only problem is that it is very coarse, and it will not mold in it's current condition. I will need to coat it with something to make it smooth so that it can be molded.
Total: 68 h
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