Blackbeard -- Prepwork II

With the face fitted to the head, I came upon the first--but probably not the last--fork in the road with this project: how historically accurate did I want to make this rendition?

My options were:

1. Enhance and correct where absolutely necessary, but not deviate from the provided design of  the kit. Or. . .
2. Do justice to the subject, regardless. . . 

I think most, if not all, of you know my choice. . . 

I have decided to render Blackbeard as described by contemporaries. Insofar as this bust is concerned, most of the work will now focus on the beard: filling it out and extending it. This will, at the very least, require a repositioning of the pistol (not a bad thing as, IMO, it was too high on the baldric); at most, eliminating it altogether!
 

To this end, I have permanently attached the face to the head. The beard--and face!--will now be reworked in situ.

As of this writing, I have fitted the hat (sausage of MS as a shim), and have begun to extend the beard, which will probably be executed in 2-3 layers. 

Moving right along, m'hearties!

UPDATE 20.01.2014. . . 4 of the seven individual braid ties/tassels are now attached. This is a relatively simple process: one simply carefully snaps the tassel off the sprue, and then grinds/ drills a divot in the flat-edged end that will accommodate the terminal end of the braid. I do not recommend a flat-on-flat attachment unless you are prepared to lose the piece/s! 

I will probably have to remove one of the 4 tassels to fill out the underlying beard extension. . . not a problem!