01-30-2010

I've been etching the back plates today, and I left my mineral spirits in my studio, which is now locked. so I spent the last half hour scrubbing away the asphaltum with some steel wool and a chunk of sandpaper! I have one piece clean, but it hasn't been blackened yet (I'll do that tomorrow).

this is one of the plates that fit over the scapula and is hinge-riveted to the main spinal plate. you can see a sketch in the last post.

I started with the acid in the shop but it's so weak that after 4 hours, the acid barely bit! therefore, I've been finding creative ways to fit the large plate in my casserole dish... hopefully it comes out alright!

01-26-2010

hi again!

I've gotten the back plates cut out and ready for acid. I spent much of today scratching out the design onto this piece and I think it turned out rather nicely. here's how it started, and a few sketch designs next to it:

I ended up modifying the plans to come up with this:

right now, it's just the bronze with the asphaltum and scratched lines. tomorrow I'm going to make a run to the shop and use their acid bath (my casserole dish is just a tad too small for this one!). after the etching is done, I'll be able to do the shaping. the bones will be riveted with silver tubes onto a strip of bronze one inch wide and 12 inches long (it's basically a ruler, yeah). now... where to get something like that in a hurry... hmm. we'll see!

I wanted to add some lines to the bones to mimic the designs on the bronze but so far, I haven't been able to come up with a usable method. I think I may just have to stick with dipping them in tea and calling it good.