David Merriman's Seaview
part 5 continued |
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After the heads had been attached the figures were once again integrated with the OC model (still in the form of masters) to
insure that everything still fit - the guy in the chair would not hit his knees on the table, the guy at the Navigation plot still had his hands at the correct height, etc.
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While doing this I took care to limit my line of sight to the very myopic view through the tiny four windows at the bow of the
SEAVIEW - in some respects I was building a shadow-box model: The view into the OC is very restricted. However, unlike many shadow-boxed displays, I did not employ any geometry tricks to extend the
displays apparent depth. No need.
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At an early stage the headless OC figure masters were test fit to their respective stations. Note that the figure positioned
near the Navigator's table is still only a copper wire bound mandrel - it's at that stage that the pose is worked out on station by carefully bending the legs and arms to suite the action pose desired.
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Me playing with little dolls ... who would have guessed? Note that I've bent the brass rod coming out of the necks into an 'L'
to make handling these little items easier.
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After the wire bound figure masters had been gooped down with solder, after careful contouring with an iron, there still
remained the exacting and time consuming chore of carving in the clothing wrinkles, and other details, with knife and files. Once that was done, I snipped down the projecting brass rod on each master and
built up a blob of solder to form a head, which, in turn, was worked with file and knife to give them recognizable human features.
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Most of the 1/96 SEAVIEW Officer figure masters arrayed next to one of the tools and consumables used to give them shape. These
figures are at various stages of solder build-up. Note the twenty-Watt iron used for detail work and a flux loaded brush. Not shown is an array of removable iron tips of various shape - some pointed,
others wedged, and yet another iron tip was ground to a long thin rod.
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Using these iron tips for specific chores, I was able to achieve pinpoint melting and positioning of molten solder.
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As I began work to detail out the heads of the tiny figure masters I first sculpted a large scale bust to help guide me as I
used knife, putty, and files to work in the facial features. At 1/96 scale I found it 'good enough' to represent clothing features such as belt, pockets, tie, collar and such and to dig out the
suggestion of digits on the hands with an X-Acto knife.
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Note that each primed figure has been outfitted with a thin brass wire pin projecting from a foot. Each station for a figure on
the OC deck master had a corresponding hole. This made test fitting of the completed figure masters within the OC an easy chore.
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Before priming and painting a metal figure (be it master or model part) the surface has to be scrubbed clean to remove both
chemical and mechanical barriers that would otherwise disrupt proper adhesion of the primer. We all know it's wise to wipe metal surfaces down with lacquer thinner or other such volatile hydrocarbon
solvent in order to wash and scrub away flux and body oil residue.
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But did you know that some type alloys continue to oxidize under the coats of primer and paint - this oxidation is a chemical
process exacerbated by oxygen rich molecules in the primer/paint itself! Lead is the worst: over time a pure lead or lead-bearing alloy will slowly oxidize and decompose. Ask any Curator of Exhibits at
the Smithsonian! Therefore, it's wise to produce model parts from non-lead bearing alloy. Here we see the SEAVIEW OC figure masters after pickling. Acid pickling imparts a microscopically rough surface
to the object, permitting excellent mechanical adhesion of the primer to the objects surface.
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Onto Part 6
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