Aaaand... ACTION!

Some starting sketches for a dream that I figured is time to start!  More information in the written bits below, I guess...

These are the initial research sketches and ideas for a little figure I want to make.  I've been toying (surprise pun) with the idea for a long time, and doodling has been as far as I've taken it; up to this point.

A vinyl-type figure that I can mold and cast copies of is something I've been wanting to do for years, but simply never known where to start.  I figured "somewhere" is as good a place as any, so after a ton of doodles and research, I grabbed some tin foil, made a ball and four sticks, and Milliputt'd around it until I had something that resembled a human figure.

I'd been working with it like this for a while and thought that it kind of lacked something, but I couldn't put my finger on it...

Then tonight, I just drilled some more holes in the tops of the arms to see what it would look like with the palms facing inwards, as opposed to backwards; and now I love it again and that excitement has been revived!

I wasn't a fan of the left hand on this guy; the process was as follows:  I balled up one big and one small ball of tin foil and Milliput..ted around it to get a basic shape; made tin foil sausages (4) and Milliputted around them and made rough arm and leg shapes.  Then I rolled out a ~1/8" thick sausage and cut it into smaller sausages and left to cure to make the fingers out of.

Once the fingers were cured, I got a small disc of cured Milliput and used hot glue to attach the fingers and bulk up the hand some.  I was able to sculpt the shape somewhat with the nib of the hot glue gun on the glue once it was on the arms, which cut down on any excess and errant glue wisps.

After sculpting on some more detail, I didn't like where the left hand was going.  Something about how I'd attached the fingers had sat them a little awkwardly, and I wanted to redo them.  Which further moved the idea on to articulate at least some parts of the figure - I drew that out below.

I think that if I use the same gauge of ball bearing (1/4") for the ball and socket joints on the figure, I could cast a small mold for that 1/4" ball and make a few casts in order to keep the same size for the ball parts that I'll sculpt to the arm-side of the shoulders, the head-side of the neck, and the hand-side of the wrists, respectively.  Then I'll drill out the body-side sockets at the shoulders and neck, and the arm-side sockets at the wrists, get some Milliput in there and make an impression with my 1/4" ball tool.  That way, the sockets and the balls will all be a consistent size and more straightforward to make.

Here's where I'll be cutting the figure once it's sculpted up fully.  I've got two more hands (one for each side) that I'll also be able to work on - easily, because of the consistent gauge.  I can pop a 1/4" ball on those and they'll fit into the wrist sockets no problem.

For casting, I'll be using the method that gives me two halves of a mold as opposed to casting this completely and cutting out a removal slit down the side.  I'll have the head on its own, body and legs together, arms separate, and four hands separate; I'll mold some Plasticine around the (approximate) half way point around the length of the model parts, and pour some silicone to set the first half.

Once this is done, I'll scrape off the Plasticine, cover the first silicone half of the mold with Vaseline in order to release the second half (silicone sticks to silicone), and then pour the second half.

After that, it'll just be a case of pouring a cast from resin when I want to make a new figure to work on.  If I can get over the step of actually making the mold and casting the figure, I'll be at a place where I can cast another prototype to further the design and maybe cast again to make a second run and improved design.  It's quite exciting.

I'm picturing something that's versatile and customisable, but that could look pretty good on its own.

That's where I'm up to right now; amid a host of other projects, of course.

I'll keep you posted on how it progresses.  I've got some more cutting, sculpting, and rethinking to do, but I'm getting to a point at which I'm pretty happy.

Peace.

New kid on the block.

I realised but a moment ago that I haven't posted an update here in a while.  I've been pretty sidetracked with a few things.

To name a handful:
My wife's Melanoma diagnosis.
The birth of our third son.
The removal of all of the Melanoma.
The launch of my Kickstarter campaign.
The application - and approval - of hosting international students for this coming school year.

So from the top...

My wifey was checked out by her dermatologist on her 6 month appointment (redhead in the Arkansas sun), and they took a mole from her neck to send for testing.

Three weeks before scheduled C-section due date for baby boy number three, she was told that it was Melanoma, and that they had cut through it, not around it completely; so there was still some left, and she needed to get it removed.

Onwards!

Talking about the third boyo...  Josiah Timothy Martin Fairweather was born on the 21st of May!  Weighing in at 6 lb 1 oz, he was lighter than the other two at birth for a couple of weeks!

He is super chill and very smiley, which is absolutely great for a third child!  Brothers love him and have a great time taking care of him and holding him.  Plus, they've really come into their own with playing together, which is great!

Little Man had his introduction day at Kindergarten on Tuesday, so Giddy Bug and I went out and had some ice cream (as consolation for a surprise shot at the doc's).  We ran around and spent some time fishing a flooded lake, too.  It was pretty chill.

Since Giddy's introduction day was just a test session to gauge his level* for Pre-K, I didn't have a lot of time to do something with Little Man, so I saved that time for today and we went fishing.  We didn't catch anything ** but we had a good time picnicking at the edge of a pond and having a good heart to heart.

* he was the first Pre-K test kid in 12 years for his teacher that counted down from 10 to 1 with no problem.  Proud dad moment.

** Frustrated side note:  I was using the tackle and bait, at the pond, the spot in the pond, and a good temperature that was advised to me from someone who caught a dozen or so catfish last time we were there.  And nothing.  The first time I've done what had been advised in order to catch fish and nothing happened.  Maybe in a month when the weather is cooler, I guess.

We didn't think that a 2-month-old baby was enough, so we took on two exchange students this year!  They're super cool and I'm looking forward to hosting them and showing them what rural America looks like!  They'll be gutting fish and skinning deer in no time.

Nhi (back left) is from Vietnam, and Itxi (back right) is from Spain.  They're great.

I launched a Kickstarter campaign!  Admittedly, it's not really doing all that well... but I think that the making of it and putting myself out there as a big step, at least.  I was going to make four dolls to be modified by 16 different artists as they travel across the world; I'll be making a little coffee table book that documents their journeys; with photographs, illustrations, maps and a showcase of the works by all of the artists involved.  I'm super excited about it, but as I said, I have a little under $400 towards the $9,250 at the time of writing.

That being said, I am massively encouraged by the support I've been receiving by those who have pledged.

If the campaign isn't funded, I'm still going to do the project, but on a much smaller scale; one doll and four artists - three of the four that were going to be the initial four for the bigger project.  We'll see what happens!

Peace.