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| Revision Log | |
| 21 October 2000 | page first published |
1,753 hits since 21 Oct 2000
©1994-2025 Bill Armintrout
Comments or corrections?
Having finally got the basic proportions of the first carapace about right, I could progress with the rest. The carapace is made of a hard coraline substance, so to get the right effect, I wait for the putty to harden before working the final shape. Basically I lay on a piece of putty, mould it to the approximate shape, and press in the rough lines of the segmented shapes. I tried to match the sizes of the carapaces, but the different poses required me to vary them slightly. Strangely enough, it was the straightforward middle body that was the most difficult to get right. The other two have a slight curve to the body which helps to decide where the carapace should end, but with the third one it was a case of asking myself "How far down should I go?"
The other tricky thing was the 'lapels' of the carapace that come down over the chest. I have decided to keep these simple and neat. In some of the concept drawings they have a coral-like encrustation, but I don't want to add anything that might make this model look messy - it's complicated enough as it is. I drew the putty down over the chest until it had something of the look of an Egyptian sarcophagus. I'm not sure if you will see what I mean, but that's what it looks like to me! Finally I added the central bulge that runs down the carapace, tapering to a fine point at the base. This is the part that comes up behind the head almost like the hood of a cobra.
I was very relieved to have the carapaces in place, even if it was only the basic shape. Tomorrow I can shape them properly, so that they look hard-edged and not like inflatable carapaces!
replaces his mysteriously missing frigates.