Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
Now for the puttees.
We have already more or less defined the shapes of the lower legs so we just refine them a bit, and then with the back of a scalpel blade or similar we describe a spiral winding down the leg. I tried to keep the edges as thin as possible as puttees are not that thick. It was tricky getting in between the legs and maintaining a consistent line. You mustn’t get the impression that this sculpting lark goes right first time, every time. There is a constant tweaking and spoiling and re-doing, so don’t give up if it doesn’t come out right straight away, that’s perfectly normal.
One thing you don’t think about until you do something like this is which way do they wind? And are they the same on both legs or mirrored?
I may not be right but I went for mirrored.
Now it’s time to cook him and save this part of the job from future damage. This is when I realised that the plastic base would melt, so I got rid of that.
I was trying to find a heatproof way of supporting him in the oven ( I don't really want explain the smell of burning wood or plastic to SWMBO), and I came up with a tripod of crocodile clips
He’s supposed to get cooked at 140 degrees for 45 minutes, but I did the boots at that and I think it’s too much. He will have at least 2 or 3 more sessions in the oven so I reduced it to 110 degrees and 30 mins.
Looking at the pics now I think the puttees probably should be narrower than I have done them, but they’ve been cooked so I’m leaving them for now.
Thanks for looking
Next up is the jacket front.
cheers
Neil
We have already more or less defined the shapes of the lower legs so we just refine them a bit, and then with the back of a scalpel blade or similar we describe a spiral winding down the leg. I tried to keep the edges as thin as possible as puttees are not that thick. It was tricky getting in between the legs and maintaining a consistent line. You mustn’t get the impression that this sculpting lark goes right first time, every time. There is a constant tweaking and spoiling and re-doing, so don’t give up if it doesn’t come out right straight away, that’s perfectly normal.
One thing you don’t think about until you do something like this is which way do they wind? And are they the same on both legs or mirrored?
I may not be right but I went for mirrored.
Now it’s time to cook him and save this part of the job from future damage. This is when I realised that the plastic base would melt, so I got rid of that.
I was trying to find a heatproof way of supporting him in the oven ( I don't really want explain the smell of burning wood or plastic to SWMBO), and I came up with a tripod of crocodile clips
He’s supposed to get cooked at 140 degrees for 45 minutes, but I did the boots at that and I think it’s too much. He will have at least 2 or 3 more sessions in the oven so I reduced it to 110 degrees and 30 mins.
Looking at the pics now I think the puttees probably should be narrower than I have done them, but they’ve been cooked so I’m leaving them for now.
Thanks for looking
Next up is the jacket front.
cheers
Neil