Bridlington & Wolds Scale Model Club Forum
Models => Modelling Projects => Topic started by: Wizzel on July 11, 2017, 07:50:08 PM
-
Once again I return after a long absence with yet another project. I know I have 2 or 3 part done things on here already and I WILL be dealing with them in due course but this one...well it may not strictly be modelling in the IPMS sense but it's still producing a scale depiction of something so I thought I'd share it and as there is a very strict timeframe, it WILL be finished in weeks rather than months.
My son has announced his intention to get married in March has asked DCOS and myself to do their cake. Baking the thing is no great shakes as I'm a bit of a black belt at that. Decorating also is something I've done a bit of and so covering and smoothing with icing, producing roses and other flowers and painting leaves etc with food colouring doesn't fill me with the same trepidation as filling and sanding wing roots HOWEVER, this cake is to have 2 pairs of wellington boots on the top to pay homage to the "happy couple's" love of trudging around the countryside. One pair would be burgundy and one pair navy.
After 2 weeks of comparing colour match samples from decorating shops and producing an acceptable match of each in sugar paste, DCOS and I had a bit of a friendly competition last weekend to see how easy or hard it would be to produce a welly. She was keen to get something done immediately and went for the option of moulding one big lump of the pastes in the style of a potter producing a clay jug. She made an acceptable Ugg boot but nothing resembling a welly at this stage. I got my modelling head on and injected myself with a hefty dose of patience. I decided that I would produce mine in more than one piece as I had had experience of some reasonably complex constructions for cakes I had done previously. I sat, stared into space, drank a cup of tea, stared some more, drank another cup of tea and went to bed. My thoughts are now gathered and so it's time to put my theory into practice. Here goes. The next thing I am going to say will be my theory. I will produce the soles of the boots (piece number 1) and I will produce the actual boots themself (piece number 2). I will then allow the pieces to set to a consistence that will allow me to handle them in a reasonably robust manner without them becoming distorted and then stick the boot onto the sole with edible glue, using my wax moulding tools to smooth the joins.
Because I want a hollow boot with a reasonable scale thickness, I decided to make a "former" out of balsa wood which will be varnished to seal it, given a smear of TREX to act as a release agent and build the sugar paste boot around that. When virtually set, I can then take the balsa former out of the boot and do a bit of fine tuning and massage each one into the most realistic shape before fully set. Now, because wellington boots are thick at one end, much much thinner in the middle and thick again at the far end, the design of the former needed some thought so that I would be able to pull it from the sugar paste boot without wrecking shape of it. Once the former is built, I will cut in into 2 at the ankle, giving me a foot and a leg, then drill each cut end, glue a pin into the foot end and simply push the leg end onto the pin. When I am ready to extract the former, I can pull each piece out separately - the leg from the top and the foot from the bottom. This may mean drilling and gluing additional pins into the other end of each piece but I've a way to go before I get that far.
I'm going to have a go with white sugar paste first to see if my theory is sound before using the very carefully shaded coloured paste.
Tonight I've started work on the balsa former - I intend to make just the one as there is not enough difference in Left and Right welly to make it worth doing two formers. I'll just shape the almost set boots as I glue them to the two soles which WILL have Left and Right shapes to them. As my balsa blocks aren't big enough to make a former out of one piece, I've had to cobble it together by sticking blocks together with super glue. It's coming together well so far.... More to follow in a couple of days. Sweet!
-
When are you going to post DCOS' effort?
Bridlufc
-
I reckon when he feels 'brave enough'
Until then 'matrimonial harmony' must be preserved...........................
Bigkev
-
Good point well put Bigkev
Bridlufc
-
Or he might get the boot.
-
Or she might give him some 'Wellie'...............
Bigkev
-
Don't you just love the puns eh? The old ones are the best.
Bridlufc
-
Oh you lot. I just had to wipe my desk down when I sprayed coffee laughing at it all!
DCOS's welly was in the first picture - she was so disappointed that she smashed it back into the big ball of navy sugar paste. I think she's hoping my theory will work - or if not, she did mention that I could simply make 4 balsa wood wellies for the cake. Won't be as tasty as the sugar paste ones mind - be a bit like eating summat from McDogmucks I imagine.
-
This is very interesting, hope it works!
Roger
-
Me too Roger. I really don't fancy trying to create 2 identical pairs of wellies out of balsa!
-
Good to see you back, and with an unusual project. It´s all modelling after all. Welli good!
-
Good to see you back, and with an unusual project. It´s all modelling after all. Welli good!
Welli good!!!! As discussed, LOL.
-
Little bit more shaping done in between all the other chores. I'm almost happy with the shape now and once the legs are a little "slimmer", I have to take the whole boot down to account for the thickness of the sugar paste. Whan THAT'S done, it'll be time to varnish it. But that's for another day.
-
Looking very like my Dunlops shape wise, very good!
Roger
-
Thanks Roger. The challenge is one pair are Barbour and the other pair Hunter. I imagine there are some differences - tread, straps, fairings, radio equipment, weapon hard points etc!
-
a good Job well done and looking good to boot!!
-
But are they waterproof?
Creativity at its best, well done Wizzel, my mate!
Bigkev
-
I am now satisfied with the profile of the wooden former, having compared it to an online photograph of the real thing. Next stage is to reduce it in size by 1/16" all round to account for the sugar paste.
Having just looked at the photographs, I wasn't actually going to include the heel and sole on the former as the original plan was to make a separate heel/sole for each boot and glue the uppers onto the top of them but having worked it into the shape, I will leave it on and see if I can end up with a hollow boot all the way down and the just fill in the hole at the bottom with a thin fillet of sugar paste to go INSIDE rather then UNDERNEATH the boot. Again, the theory is sound but practice may prove more hard work than it's worth. If that's the case, I'll simply take a scalpel to the bottom of the former and revert to plan A1. More tomorrow folks.
-
Looks like now you see it, now you don`t. Nice one Wizzel.
-
Move over Gordon Ramsey and Mary Berry, there's a new kid on the block!
Well Done Wizzel!
-
Almost there now with the woodwork. My files were about 1/16" thick so using one as a guide, I sanded a strip around the welly half way up the leg to the depth of the file, pared it down roughly with my craft knife from there and gave it a rub with some wet and dry. It doesn't need to be 100% smooth as it's going to be covered in sugar paste and any blemishes will be on the inside of the welly and unseen.
It's had a first coat of varnish but as you can imagine, balsa is very porous and therefore greedy. I imagine it will take another 3 or 4 coats at least to seal it properly. That should take me nicely to Saturday when the next stage will commence.
-
Bootiful.
-
Bootiful.
I was about to put "I wonder how long it will be before Bernard Mathews reviews this thread" hahaha.
-
Well(i) never. Looking forward to the next leg of this project.
-
Well I won't stoop so low.
I'll be the 'Sole' of discretion.
Sorry Couldn't help myself.
Bigkev
-
After getting back home from Cropper's Model Shop, doing dinner, walking the dogs and nipping up the allotment, I was just about to settle down to a bit of boot mutilation when who should walk in through the door but that constant monkey on my shoulder, DCOS! So, I had time to drill a hole through the heel of the boot only tonight. This will go far enough into the leg so that when I cut the boot into 2 parts across the ankle, I can fix a cocktail stick through it to hold the 2 parts together while the sugar paste dries and then remove the respective parts from inside the sugar paste once it has done so; the foot from underneath and the leg from the top. At least DCOS made herself useful and took the pictures for me!
-
Now it`s drill boots!!!
-
Now it`s drill boots!!!
GETAWAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!
-
Right, tonight I got the "pins" pushed into place to leave guide holes, then cut the boot at the ankle and tested the fit of the resulting two parts back together again. Very satisfactory. I used two pins to avoid any twisting of the parts when working on the next stage but I cannot progress any further until DCOS is out of the way which means Wednesday when she's at work. Then it will be time to start on the sugar paste! So far, the theory has been sound but it's this next part that is critical!!! Luck please.
-
Thats a nice fit is that, well done so far. I`m sure that it will turn out ok. If not, give it the boot.
-
It will be rubbery, I am sure
-
Hi Wizzel,
Nice work so far.
Q. Will you be matching the 'Boot' colour to the Icing colour for total realism...........?
Cheers,
Bigkev
-
Hi Big Kev, yes, the finished boots will be in burgundy (one pair) and navy (one pair) and although DCOS has painstakingly mixed enormous batches of both to her satisfaction, I'm making his trial one in white and if successful will (possibly) use the coloured stuff for the production variants. I say (possibly) because I also quite fancy airbrushing the white one with some burgundy food colouring to see if I can get a more realistic, shaded finish and also because DCOS thinks it can't be done.
Remember though, if it doesn't work, it's got to stay our little secret ;)
-
If you manage it Wizzel you will have a tongue twister to deal with.....a burgundy airbrushed boot beauty! Try saying that after a couple of pints!
-
I'll also have to learn it in German, for Doro's benefit. I wonder which would be harder to say!
-
Hi Wizzel,
Now that's a challenge.
I reckon there will be a translation appearing on the forum in due course from Kiteman.
Cheers,
Bigkev
-
Here it is........eine burgunde Spritzpistole lackierte Gummistiefel Schönheit. Easy eh!
-
and now, say it ten times as quick as you can........after a yellow handbag!!!
I'm straining to get the next bit done - just need DCOS out of the way. It's either this Wednesday of from Sunday onwards she's at Scout Camp for a week so production should increase dramatically :)
-
Dib, dib, dib...........Dob, dob, dob Wizzel.
Hope your toggle is up to it with DCOS away...........................?
Cheers,
Bigkev
-
Dib, dib, dib...........Dob, dob, dob Wizzel.
Now, a bit of trivia for you all. It isn't DIB/DOB but DYB/DOB and it stands for Do Your Best/Do Our Best - part of the Scout ethos.
-
Hi Wizzel,
Sorry taken me a while to reply, but a lesson learnt on that one.....
DYB/DOB
Bigkev
-
DYB/DOB, HOB NOB...get the biscuits out!