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.

01-21-2010

hello again!

I'm going to continue working on the armour again this weekend. my first sheet of bronze came in so I'm going to start with the floating plates that hook directly to the scale shirt. not only will the plates be etched upon and aged like the zipper stops (which doubled as test pieces for me), but the center unit will be adorned with 6 interlocking deer vertebrae, riveted onto another strip of bronze and then to the plate with silver tube rivets. only 3 of them actually interlock, so I'm going to have to haxxor them to fit.

some of them need a wee bit of cleaning too. I feel the need to treat the bones somehow, and I wanted to put lines on them to mimic the etched lines on the rest of the outfit, but I hear that bones combust when heated (the original thought was to use a wood burning tool). I also don't want to paint lines on because that would be cheesy. *shrugs*

also, I wanted to show you my new spice rack my little brother made me for Christmas. it fits just right, bro! look!

thank you so much, my kitchen is much cleaner now : )

01-18-2010

hey guys! it's been a long break, I know!

but now it's 2010 and we're in the future, where people say "twenty-_____". shnazzy.

I've been very busy, but not on my armour. since I haven't updated in awhile I wanted to at least post some cat pictures. this is Camus, and he is very indifferent.

the Camus does not care.

he sure is cute though. <3

most of what has been keeping me busy lately has been Second Life work. first, I finished the new Dravyn V2. then I had to recolour it in 6 colours (I'm on colour 5 right now). then I had to make some rocks for an SL presentation area in a desert, and then I had to make an alien texture for AI rabbits (it ended up with 6 eyes that blinked from the bottom and 3 pupils in each). here's the Dravyn colours:

so far it's been a record month for sales : ) I also got a new 50mm prime lense over the holidays, hence the better-than-normal image quality for my photos. next time I get my suit on, I'll have to get a photo!

cheers!

12-17-2009

it's dooooone

well okay, there are some bugs to fix on it. firstly, it's a bit too tight in some areas and I keep popping brass rings. first, I'm going to swap out all the 16 gauge rings for 14 gauge (eventually), and then I'm going to add more scales. where? I'm not entirely sure yet.

here's the finished collar!

I didn't get a chance to grab a photo of the completely finished shirt while it was on me... as I can no longer put the shirt on myself, I am now totally reliant on having someone else suit me up. blargh, how annoying. we'll see if I can't grab some good images tomorrow or something.

now it's on to the next step: bronze plate. I'll be taking a break for Christmas, and I'll only update the blog from now until January 11 if I did something in my spare time (or if I get good photos of the final product of the shirt).

cheers!

12-15-2009

my final final exam is tomorrow at noon.

I think I have a solid solution for the armpits.

and I have enough milk for a tea party.

\o/

12-14-2009

so!

I finished replacing the first half of the collar with the corrected piece of leather. it's so wonderful. however, I have exams to focus on tonight, so I'll save photos for later!

g'night~