Emperor Palpatine (I)

The throne--minus canopy, pedestal and backpad--is now assembled. Yes, it went together intuitively and without much guesswork. And yes, the finishing, etc. will be extensive, depending on where the perfection needle settles on your personal scale. As I said, a transitional example in the evolution of production quality [control] at KM.

I have also roughed-in a new backpad for the throne: MS over a filler/backing of clay. After having modeled the salient features, etc., I believe this is a critical addition if you are to get the most of your presentation. Not really knowing how it would turn out, this has now become a two, maybe three, step addition that I hope to have done by end of day tomorrow.

As with Doom, the throne is seat-less: the figure fits into the sides of the throne. Unlike Doom, the fit is positive and secure, and there will be significantly less putty-shimming required. To ensure that I maximized the fit, I assembled the torso of the figure to the legs, and the right arm to the torso, as well as temporarily attaching the head to the torso: the figure now not only snaps into to the sides of the throne, but the backpad as well.  

So far, so good. If you were to ask me the main difference between this piece and Doom, I would say that this piece is all about the modelling, how detail-oriented you might be/are, and much time you are willing to invest in realizing your vision of the piece. Doom, on the other hand, was a full-blown reclamation that demanded a near-complete re-engineering after the fact.

More to follow. . .

FOLLOW-UP. . . I have permanently attached the head to the torso, and completed most of the filling, etc. on the right side of the body. I would hasten to point out that this is more at area "enhancements" than any real filling: the fit is actually quite good. But I wanted a little more volume and dimensionality to the axillary and shoulder area of the mantle, as well as the area below the sash on the under-tunic.

FOLLOW-UP #2 - 16.09.2012. . .  A productive day. . . 

• Left arm permanently attached and fitted: enhanced as per the right arm. The figure is now ready to be finished and have the fitting shims applied.
• Backpad in finishing stages. It should be noted that the back- pad was extended into the canopy area per the original.
• Finishing work has begun on the throne itself. There is a lot of work to be done, but it can easily be broken down into multiple 1-2 hr. sessions.