25 May 2009

Erik, the Opera Ghost--Divertimento?

Not hardly. . . but this may certainly mark a transition in the first Act. . .

While the project on the whole is unfolding splendidly, I have just about resigned myself to doing away with the mantle. As I've oft mentioned in previous postings, I am by no means an Aurora purist, and the one glaring weakness of any Aurora/Aurora-like release has been the drapery. The greater the volume of fabric, the greater the eyesore.

I was prepared to rework the drapery to some degree or another. In fact, a not-insignificant amount of time and effort was spent reinforcing those areas where a 'breakthrough' would be most likely to occur. However, after spending some 3 hours attempting to situate the mantle, it became clear to me that there was no way that the mantle as designed and cast could be successfully integrated with the kit. A good deal of the problem lies with the sculptor's apparent lack of familiarity with the period opera cloak/mantle--though I will hasten to concede that the limitations of the casting process most likely played a significant role in the more glaring shortcomings.

Is this my final word? No. . . not quite. I will have to spend some time watching the original and closely examining the stills at my disposal before I make my final decision. In the meantime, I will continue working on the head, shirt and cravat. . . and begin considering sculpting a dressing gown on our tormented "ghost".

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