Old Man Carl - Prepwork 5: Last Lap

13.01.2018 -

• Reworked barrel of the Python, and roughed-in new grips.
• Added (sculpted) Carol's "trench tantō".

14.01.2018 - Augmented volume of left thigh.
15.01.2018 - 

• Fitted tsuka/tsuba; replaced tsuka.
• Added final volume to hair.

17.01.2018 -Sinister half of tsuka re-laced.
28.01.2018 -Permanently attached lower-third of saya.

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

Old Man Carl - Intermezzo (2): Step reduction

In my review of "Old Carl", I indicated how MAiM suggests dealing with the "layering" that is part and parcel of the 3d-printing process: “use . . . a small flat brush. Wet the brush [with acetone] and stroke up and down on the areas on your model that might show steps. You will see that the steps disappear instantly. Repeat it if necessary!” 

NOT! The steps may disappear instantly momentarily; but once the acetone evaporates, you are back to square 1!! I personally had my doubts that acetone would do the trick, especially after seeing it applied in the video, and the fact that they recommended using the solvent to wash the figure. Acetone is a powerful solvent that is merciless on the wrong medium--and virtually useless on the "right" one.

If you are striving for a non-textured finish, you will have your work cut out for you. Me? For the most part, I like the texturing provided by the layering. And with localized tweaks here and there, will achieve a most agreeable canvas. 

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

Old Man Carl - Intermezzo: TDL

As I fast approach the mid-way point in the prepwork, I thought I'd share with you the TDL to date:

All items are at the very least IP. 

More to follow. . .

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

Old Man Carl - Prepwork 4: Lucille, etc.

Prepwork is rather slow-going due to the brittleness and hardness of the resin. Having said that, two observations:

• If you proceed methodically, you can use the stratified resin to your advantage. 
• It is a near-absolute certainty that if the right resin can be found, we are gazing upon the future of this hobby. 

Lucille was designed with the proximal third of the bat buried in the folds of the poncho: this sim- ply does not work for yours truly! So I extended the length of the bat with a piece of scrap resin; drilled-out the hand; hollowed-out the appropriate fold/s of the poncho; and re-positioned the bat. PERFECT! [NOTE: Upon review, the proportions of the bat didn't quite work. As best I can deter- mine, the "tail wagging the dog" was the barbed wire! So, I decided to replace the bat in its en- tirety, and carve one from birch, essentially making a 17% smaller-version of the one I made for Negan.]

I also spent some time with the hat, re-scaling (enhancing and/or reducing) the brim.

Finally, the sheriff's badge (star). The kit is designed with a 6-pointed star: yet another glaring ex- ample of a designer's failure to do his/her homework! The badge of the SD of the fictional King County, GA is a 7-pointed star!! This will be addressed in the days and weeks to come. 

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

Old Man Carl - Prepwork 3: The Katana

In the course of the pre-receipt evaluation of the figure, I had come to the conclusion that the katana would have to undergo some serious rework, at the very least. Upon receipt, I saw that while my worst fears were for naught, the katana would be the focus of my prepwork travails. 
The two incidents described in the previous posts merely underscored the obvious.

The tsuka was quickly repaired with a spot of superglue; however, that did nothing to mitigate the bulk and squarish x-section of the grip. I intend to reduce the tsuka to the appropriate conforma- tion, and re-braid the grip. Finally, I intend to reshape--and rescale!--the tsuba to its circular form.

The braiding on the saya should be reworked as well, but given the scale and the fact that it is a historically-questionable item, I decided to leave it as is. Which brings us to the broken section of the saya. Rather than glue and refinish, I went ahead and carved the entire section of the saya below the braiding from a piece of scrap resin.

By way of closing, I would point out that the katana has been re-scaled as necessary. . . 

More to follow. . . 

FOLLOW-UP 06.01.2018. . . In the course of fitting the replacement section of the saya, I de- cided to remove the tsuka-tsuba to facilitate the re-braiding of the former, and the truing of the latter. With all "obstructions" removed, I was faced with yet another over-coiffed subject! The hair, in this instance, is used primarily as a filler of deadspace and/or undercuts, but its enormity is ridiculous! So I began paring it down to a more realistic--and complementary!--volume.

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

Old Man Carl - Prepwork 2a

In my previous post, I mentioned that as "indicated in the introductory review, I had a laundry-list of items to address in my pre-receipt evaluation of the figure. I am very pleased (and not a little relieved!) to report that the figure is pretty much good-to-go OOB!" I also indicated that I would "comment on any unexpected encounters in future posts. . ."

I will freely admit that my first unexpected encounter occurred in the process of removing the scaffolding from the figure: approx. 1/3 of the katana's tsuka decided to "snap" off. I say "snap" as it describes what appeared to have happened, but in reality, the tsuka separated. The only thing holding the tsuka in place was the scaffolding--once that was removed, the piece was free to do as it pleased. Upon closer examination, it appears that there was a micro-pause in the printing process, and the two sections were not fused.

Today, I was finishing the distal portion of the katana's saya, when the identical thing happened! 3-d printing is where resin casting was some 35 years ago, so these "incidents" should come as no great surprise. These are the equivalent of the air-bubble honeycombs of yore! Still. . . 

PS--"If you haven't replaced your burrs and cutters in a while, NOW is the time to do it!" SERIOUSLY!

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003