Blackbeard -- Prepwork IV: Finishing

Save for the modifications to the crown of the hat and final finishing, Blackbeard is DONE!

If all goes as planned, I will prime the bust this weekend. . .

UPDATE 13.10.2017. . . Final finishing of the bust has been completed! The bust is now drying 
in the oven; and I will prime shortly. That leaves naught but the hat to finish, and it is now in the finishing stage. . . 

UPDATE 14.10.2017. . . Final finishing of the hat has been completed!

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

Blackbeard -- Prepwork: The Pedestal

The last major putty exercise involves the pedestal. The stock pedestal, a generic item common to most, if not all, of Young's busts is, IMO, too limiting--and, in this case, ultimately detracting. And since I have no problem whatsoever in creating an en suite pedestal. . .

The roughed-in pedestal is now in the oven curing. I figure there will be 1-2 more putty sessions to finalize "pose" and lines, and then it will be down to finishing and polishing.

More to follow!

FOLLOW-UP. . . Into finishing and polishing. . .   

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

Blackbeard -- Prepwork: Intermezzo (2)

With the enhancement of the beard rapidly coming to a conclusion--I figure one or two more sessions should wrap it up--the time has come to shift my focus to the pistol.

I have not yet decided what to do with this somewhat iconic accessory. These are my options as of this writing:

1. Keep as is? 
2. Lengthen the barrel?
3. Eliminate the barrel?
4. Replace with a scratchbuilt turn-off (Queen Anne) pistol?
5. Eliminate the gun altogether?

The last was seriously under consideration until this morning. But as I mentioned above, the bandolier of charged pistols is iconic for the subject--and given the design of the bust, an aesthetically integral component. 

The first option is still under consideration, but the research has not yielded the evidence I seek to confirm the use of a short-barreled dragon pistol in the first qtr. of the 18th c. Most barrels of this time period were over 12" in length (pistol overall length: 18-20").

Right now, option #3 is the most viable. . . 

Stay tuned!

FOLLOW-UP. . . The extension of the beard has been completed, and all 7 tassels have been attached. While there will be the invariable tweaks and touch-ups right up to priming, all that  remains to be done is completing the "filling out" of the right side of the face. . . Movin' right along. . .

Blackbeard -- Prepwork III

The beard "amplification" is in full-swing and the difference in quite telling--I am delighted!

The left side of the face is just about done, and I have begun doing some "fill-in" work on the right. The trick is to proceed slowly and in layers, anticipating where the next enhancement is to take place and how it will meld with what already has been done and the ultimate flow of the bust. 

Insofar as the aforementioned tassel is concerned, it has been removed and reattached, with the underlying section of beard completed. 

Finally, the knot of the kerchief has been enhanced/amplified.

FOLLOW-UP. . . 6 of the seven individual braid ties/tassels are now attached!

Blackbeard -- Prepwork: Intermezzo (1)

The cocked hat is now fitted and the join finished. As a brief aside, the reworking of the crown is about half-way done.

While I was cleaning up the hat, I discovered the second unforgivable faux-pas on this sculpture: there is a tiny skull on the bow of the cockade! Really??? Again, the fix is easy and quick; but the question remains: WHY???!!!

Given the quality of the kit as a whole, I suppose these are little more than assumed-market-dri- ven indulgences, a venial infraction. But it does make one wonder what the perception of history might be at either end of the marketplace?

Back to the bench!

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! 

Blackbeard -- Prepwork I

As much as I've tried to resist, this figure simply demands attention!

The first thing that needs to be done is fine-tune the fit of the face to the head. This entirely depends on how "anal" the miniaturist might be about these things. . . and as most of you know, I am unapologetically off-the-scale when it comes to matters such as this. 

The issue to be addressed is the discontinuity of the beard with the hair and the underlying flesh: to me this is glaring. So Step 1 is to apply a thin sausage of MS around the perimeter of the contact surface of the face, brush on a layer of vaseline to both contact surfaces, and gently press into position, making any adjustments that might be necessary. Set aside to cure. Once cured, I will need to fill the void between beard and hair on the right side of the face (the gap on the left side was self-corrected in Step 1). 

This process also preps the face for the enhancement of the beard. I will definitely add facial hair and make the beard fuller, much as I did with the Ft. Duq offering. How much I will lengthen the beard--and hair!--is yet to be determined.

More to follow!

Young Miniatures' Blackbeard (1/10th scale bust)

What can I say. . .? "Yo ho, yo ho. . . a pirate's life for me. . . "

And if 'freebooter fever' is what prompted me to get this little gem, then I need to succumb more often!

I never liked this offering from the very talented Young B. Song; but as it turns out, this is no fault of the sculptor, whether in design or execution! In fact, I can unequivocally say that I have yet to see a painted build-up of this piece that does justice to the bare casting--yet another example of why box-art is not only grossly over-rated, but potentially a detriment to market performance!

[For an excellent graphic review see here.]

The bust is comprised of 17(!) superbly cast pieces + the pedestal. As with most Young pieces, there are some potentially nasty pouring blocks to contend with, but these are dealt with in short order.

As you can see the design is incontrovertibly brilliant! Some might argue that it is over-engi- neered, but this is one instance where I would emphatically disagree! You will thank his foresight when negotiating and painting the tassels and the ribbons, to say nothing of the matches!

I have but four problems with the bust as executed:

• This a a rather gaunt Blackbeard. While Blackbeard has been described as "tall and spare", he also had broad shoulders and a robust physique. 
• The source of his cognomen is given somewhat short-shrift in this rendition. On the other hand, esthetically it is quite convincing--and no sculpture of Blackbeard has yet to capture the extraordinary length of his beard!
• The cocked hat. My issue with this piece is the height and shape of the crown. It will require reworking.
• The pistol. This is where Young went too far--and not far enough!  With regard to the former: a skull and crossbones on the buttcap. . . really?! Mr. Young could just as easily have sculpted a 'grotesque face', which would have been historically correct, and would have been arguably more thematic. Instead, it nearly cheapens the entire work! Fortunately an easy fix. Regarding the latter: my initial impression is that the lines of the pistol are not right. While this will require additional investigation, it also begs the question whether a heavy pistol such as this would have been a likely candidate for the bandolier? 

The first two items are non-starters--I will leave as is and attempt to manipulate the impression of the bust with paint. Thus, most of my re-work will focus on the hat, and the accessory piece that is the pistol. . . I may even decide to sculpt a new one! (FOLLOW-UP -- Depending on the out- come of my research, I may just have to rework the front half of the pistol.)

All in all, an excellent piece! And one of Young's better historical offerings--the best I have seen!! Given that Nick Dransfield's tour-de-force is no longer available, this is THE piece if you want a Blackbeard in your collection! (FOLLOW-UP 19.01.2014 -- I have "played" with this piece for the last couple of days, and I can say in all honesty, this is every bit as good as the Ft. Duquesne offering--and in some ways, better!)

FOLLOW-UP. . . Phase 1 of prep/clean is now all-but-done. Kudos again to Young for the quality of the casting! All the more so as the face (front half of the head) essentially snaps into place! Be very careful lest you damage the respective braids: it is a rather precision fit!