To start my final piece I began by lining the suitcase. I did this, as I intend to use real water to portray the sea, therefore lining the suitcase would stop the water from ruining it as it is made from cardboard. I started by experimenting with different materials to use. Firstly, I tried a foam sheet, I cut a section off, placed it inside a mould and then sat water in and left it for half an hour to see if it let any water through. The second material I experimented with was Perspex. I decided that this would be the better material to use as it is clear therefore you can still see the suitcase through it. I drew around the suitcase onto the Perspex sheet, using the bandsaw to cut it out and the disc sander to smooth out the edges and slowly take back the sides where the plastic board didn't fit until it did. Once the sheet fit, I used a sander to rough the surface of the Perspex sheet so that when the water sat on top of it it gripped the the surface giving a rippled effect. This way sand would also grip better. To fit all of these pieces together I used four block of wood for the top to sit on at an angle that I wanted my beach scene to be at. I then used silicon to seal all the pieces together. This way water would not get through.
To create the beach huts that will be displayed on my model, I used a long rectangle piece of wood and cut them down into the right size pieces I needed using the Band Saw. I measure each piece roughly using the model figurines I have, I then used the first block as a template until I had eight in total. For the roof of the beach houses I used a thin piece of wood and cut out sixteen rough pieces using the Mitre Saw, sanding them to the right size after using the disc sander. Once all of the pieces were the same size, I used superglue to glue the pieces together. I started by using PVA glue but as it was too wet, it began to make the pieces bow as they were so thin. PVA also took too long to dry and caused the pieces to slip whilst I was holding them in place.
Once all the pieces were dry I used my Pinterest board on Beach Huts for inspiration on how to paint them. On each side of the beach huts I roughly drew out a door over one of the figurines, then using a ruler to neaten it up. As I wanted some of the beach huts to have a striped pattern I measure out each side, dividing it by numbers until I had a round number for how thick each stripe needed to be. 4mm Portrait, 3,, landscape. When the designs and patterns where drawn out on each beach hut, I used gauche paint to paint them.
To create a weather look on my beach huts, I needed something to slightly dirty them in certain places such as on top of the rood, underneath the overhang and around the bottom where the sand would be. To achieve this look I tried using oil to make them look aged, however this did not work. I sampled the corner of one beach hut, using old grease from one of the machines, dabbing small amounts on with a paint brush, wiping the excess off and then blending it in to create a dated beach hut. I really like the way using the grease made these beach huts look as they now look apart of the piece instead of really standing out.
As I changed my idea half way through, and decided that underneath the top layer of my model I wanted to put a lower layer in using folded clothes and have it as an opposing layer of dark and bad things that happen on the beach and in coastal towns. As I had previously sanded down the top layer to make the water grip, you could not clearly see underneath, therefore I pulled out the top layer, marked around it onto another sheet of clear Perspex and using the band saw and disc sander cut it out.
On my final piece I am having 1:50 scale model figurines, posed in different positions commonly found at a beach, such as sunbathing and swimming, they will also be painted in bikinis. As I am unable to make my own model figurines due to lack of time, money, machinery and knowledge, I bought a pack of beach setting models from online. These contain many different models varying from male, female and children all in different poses.
As I am wanting specific poses for my figurines that I am unable to buy, I am going to have to repose them myself. Once the models came, I began experimenting with different ways on how I could reposition them. I started with making small incisions into the limbs that needed to be reposed using a fine saw, then using a soldering iron to slightly melt the plastic to allow me to bend it and repose it. This however, did not go to plan, the soldering iron caused the plastic to melt and stick to it, also while bending to try to repose it, some of the limbs just snapped off anyway as the plastic was too brittle. Therefore I had to use super glue to glue the piece back together. I found it a lot easier to just saw off the part that needed to be moved using the fine hand saw and superglueing it back in the right position it needed to be in. As sawing caused some body parts to disappear or become shorter such as shoulders, elbows and knees, I placed a small blob of superglue on the end of whichever piece was missing, turning it over so it created a bead and then spraying it with mitre bond to allow it to set. I could then glue on the rest of the limb. Doing this however took a lot of time and patience as the figures are very small and once arms and legs began to be removed it made it very fiddly to glue back together. In some cases such as gluing hands and feet back on, tweezers had to be used to grip the figure while using another to glue the hand or foot on place. As superglue was the best option for this task because it is the strongest, it also made this job very difficult. There were many times that I glued my fingers together or glued the figurine to my fingers, often resulting in me pulling of the part I had just stuck together whilst trying to remove it from me. I also often snapped off bits I had just glued down when reposting another limb on the same figurine. When I did this I had to file off the lump of glue left as it would make the limb too long, and reattach it.
Once all the pieces I needed reposing where done, I needed to file off the excess glue. To do this I used a small electric hand file that allowed me to fit into the small places a normal file could not reach. This drill helped me to quickly file down the models making there new poses look more professionally done. There were problems with this file however. Filing over some of the new joins caused it to snap off, therefore I had to re glue it back together and then refile it. On some of the models I also filed too much away leaving lumps and holes in some of the figurines arms and legs. To fix this I placed a small lumps of superglue over it and filed it down so it looked smooth again.
Once all the figurines I needed to create little scenes within my model were complete I needed to paint them. To do this I used enamel paint, specifically used for painting models with. I started by repainting the base of all the models a flesh toned colour as some of the reposed models had joints made from superglue so it was very obvious which had been emended and looked incomplete. After I had painted the first coat onto each model, I left their hairs so that I could stick their heads into blueback to keep them upright and to stop anything touching them which could possibly rub off the drying paint. The paint pot instructed that each layer of paint would take an hour to dry, however, I found that this was not the case and that the paint in fact dried a lot faster allowing me to quickly add a second coat. The paint did dry slightly streaky and darker than I thought it would have, but once the clothing was painted on it was hardly noticeable and the tone did not look too bad.
Once the skin coats were dry, I switched the bodies around placing the feet into the blue tack and painted their hair. For there hair I used 2 shades, one blonde and the other a dark brown. I would have liked to have had some with their original black hair however I did not have black enamel paint. I did not realise this until I sat down to start painting them or I would have bought a pot when I was purchasing the flesh coloured pot. Instead for the hair I just used two shades of dark brown, and when I needed black in the clothing i improvised with a dark navy blue an added a few coats. For the hair, one of the brown shades would not work as when it was painted on very oily so that it would not grip to the plastic. I tried stirring it several times, however, this made no difference, so I continued using the other shade of brown I had for the other figurines.
When all the hair had dried, I needed to separate the models into piles of which level in the model they were on and whether they needed to wear swimwear or be fully clothed. I started painting on the clothes for the fully clothed figurines, painting them in a selecting of three colour bottoms, either trousers or shorts and different style and coloured top. For the models that had a role in my final piece, I painted on them to portray their role better. For example, on the bottom layer there is a girl that has been murdered and buried, therefore I painted both man and women with wood on them. When all the fully clothed ones where completed, I moved onto the swimwear. As I was running low on time I decided to just separate the women so I could paint onto the with 1960 inspired bikinis. I used Pinterest for this, using my boards and pinned photographs to use for inspiration. Among these where styles such as the Mandain, Rudi Gurnreich's work and other vintage 1960 swimwear. For the other models that needed painting with swimwear, I used their outline to paint over in bright colours. I wanted to paint them in pastel colours however, I had no access to pastel coloured paints and could not afford to buy them. Therefore I made do with the bright coloured ones and kept the rest of my model within the colour scheme. I am very pleased with the outcome of these figurines, After 8 hours of painting, I feel very proud of the final outcome and feeling very good about them compared to how I did before and during making theme. One problem I faced with making these models are that I did manage to snap off weak limbs, mainly legs, when painting around them. These where then pushed to one side and regaled later on.
To achieve a weathered look on the pier, I used a blow torch to run over the pier to slightly burn it to achieve an old, tattered look.
For the Jetty, I used the same wood I used for the planks on the pier, however, cutting them to 70mm so that when the beach huts where placed on top, there was a walk way in front. I then changed my mine, deciding to place them longitudinal so they covered more surface length ways. I then placed each plank in a staggered joint to make the jetty more stable. So that the jetty was on the same level as the pier as well as being stronger, using wood glue, I glued the planks of wood onto a strip of MDMF, that i measured out using the shortest lengths, reducing it by e few millimetres so that there was an overlap. As not all of the planks of wood were the same size, the last piece did not fit properly. Because the piece it was next to was not as wide as the others in its row, it left a small gap between the two strips of wood. To fix this I glued in a piece of wood laid on its side, cutting it down once the jetty had dried. Once the glue had dried, using the bandsaw I cut down the overlap on each side and removed the excess wood from the sideways strip. I then used the belt sander to rub down the jetty so that it laid nice and flat and all pieces were of the same thickness. To complete the jetty, I used a blow torch to burn the wood to give it a weathered look like I did to the pier.
I am very pleased with the outcome of my pier and jetty as I feel it looks very well made and works really well within my final piece.
As the base of my model consists of folded clothes to represent the beach, I needed to coat them in a substance that would allow them to dry rigid so that when the model was moved about, they would not move and the figurines placed on top would not fall over. I started by mixing PVA glue and water into a tray and soaking a pair of shorts in them, ringing out the excess water, folding them up and then leaving them to dry. As the clothes were soaked through and left to dry in a cool room, they took over 24 hours to dry, and they did not dry stiff. I then tried coating them in neat PVA glue instead of diluting it in water. This also took a while to dry and still did not leave the pair of shorts any harder. My next idea was to coat them in clear, quick drying varnish. Using a paint brush I saturated each item of clothing I planned on using in my model with the vanish, leaving them to dry on a piece of news print so that the vanish would not stick and damage any of the tables. After a couple of hours I checked on them, finding that the vanish was working and the clothes where beginning to become rigid. I gave the clothing garments and second layer of vanish and left them over night to be able to dry.
In my model I have designed my figurines to be involved with ice creams vans. Therefore I needed two for my project. As I was unable to find previously made ones that were financially efficient and fit the scale of my figurines (1:50), I had to build my own. I started by printing off a blue print for a transit van, editing it until it was the correct size for my model. I then cut this out and taped all four sized to a block of wood. Using a method I had previously used for the project before, I used the bandsaw to cut it out. I started by cutting out one side, taping it back together, cutting out another side, taping that back together and continuing until all four sides were complete and a perfect van shape was in the middle of the other scrap pieces Once this one had been cut out, I used it as a template for the second van, however adding an additional roof like an ice-cream van. I used the same process as before to cut the second van out. After I had cut the two vans out I began adding in details such as windows, doors and side panels. Using a carving knife I added contour onto the vans windows, bonnets and bumpers, sanding them over to create a smooth finish. I also sanded over all the edges to make them less harsh and more of a natural van shape. Using a detail sander I added in the shapes of the wheels and then carved away the rough edge I made with the carving knife.
For the ice cream van, I am having someone sat in it handing out ice cream, therefore I needed to create a window for the person to stand in. Using the carving knife, I cut around the edge of the window and then carved out the interior, I did this until the window was big enough for someone to sit in.
To paint the two vans I used acrylic paints. I primed both vans with two coats of white acrylic to work on top of without being able to see the wood underneath. I googled ice cream vans to see the designs of them and how they use colour and patterns. I chose to paint my ice cream van in red, white and blue. To add detail onto my van such as the windows, headlights and slogans I used fine liners to draw them on or around the paint to highlight them. I also used coloured fine liners to add in boxes and shelves on the inside of the ice cream van. Once I had painted this van with three layers as the paint kept on streaking and then started blistering, I cut one of my models in half that is positioned handing out an ice cream and glued it onto the hallowed space. To make it obvious that the van was an ice cream van, I used would to carve out an ice cream, then using the detailed sander to smooth it down and add in the contours of the cone and ice cream. This was then painted by mixed paints to create a cone yellow and pink. A piece of copper rod was added to the cone to hold it up on top of the van.
For the other van I painted it in a transit van style. Even though the common colour of a transit van is white, I thought leaving my van this colour made it look incomplete, therefore I mixed a grey paint and painted it this colour. I used a fine liner to add in the windows, doors and side panels as using paint did not look smooth unlike the fine liner.
To add the detailing of the alloys on the wheels, I coated them in a layer of grey paint, painting the rims in black to portray the tyres and then using a black fine liner to draw on the details on the alloys.
Once both vans were dried, I used grease to add in the detail of dirt splattered onto the vans. I dipped a paint brush into the grease, removing the excess and blotted it around the windows and the backs of the wheels.
On the other van I needed to have an open back door. As it would be too time consuming to hollow out the van for someone to stand in it and have the door open, I created a door out of copper and placed it over a black background to create the illusion of an open space. Using a tracing paper, I traced the design I had drawn on the wooden van and traced it onto a scrap piece of copper. Using a fine jewellery saw I cut it out and sanded it down to create a rectangle shape door.
I am very proud of these vans as the finished design of them look very clever and detailed. I am glad I made my own vans instead of buying them as I feel I have developed on techniques in how to cut them and using the detailed sander.
The last thing that needed to be done was assembling my final piece. In case of any accidents such as anything moving or falling over during transit on the bottom layer of my model, I decided it was best to cut out the bottom of my suitcase so that it could be removed and emended in case this did happen. To cut out the bottom I traced a line around the edge of the case, leaving an overlap so that a slab of wood could be placed underneath it. I used a jig-saw to cut out the suitcase, then sticking it to a piece of wood I made for the template of my plastic base for my top layer. As it overlapped underneath the suitcase, I again used the jig-saw to trim down the thick of the excess wood off, then using the disc sander to shape it and remove any bits that where still on show.
Once I was satisfied with the bottom layer I started to assemble my bottom layer. I began by arranging the vanished clothes so that it resembled how I had planned the top layer to look. I then used hot glue from a glue gun to stick these in place. As the bottom layer of my suitcase portrays costal town problems and other issues such as drugs, violence, murder and abductions but conveyed through items usually found in a suit case, I represented the beach huts on the top layer through pill bottles on the bottom. As the bottles I had purchased were not all the same size, but needed to be as the taller ones would not allow the top layer to fit far enough down in the case than it needed to be, Brad cut them down on the band saw for me. I was not allowed to do this process because as the bottle were cylinder, it would have have been a danger hazard as it could easily slip through and I could fall into the blade. Once these were cut, I used the hot glue gun to stick them down.
The next step was to arrange the model figures onto the base. I roughly placed them to where I wanted them to go, adding in extra details to some before glueing them down with superglue. For example, I have one model portraying a shark attack, therefore I dripped red ink around where I wanted the model to be placed, glueing it to one side so that it appeared to be bleeding out from the wounds. I then used plastic to carve out a shark fin to be placed near it. I also illustrated a seagull being harmed by litter. To portray the litter, I used a creme egg tin foil rapper, ripping off tiny pieces and placing them on a piece of material I cut to resemble a discarded picnic blanket. I also made aluminium cans using the tin foil. I wrapped a small piece around the edge of a copper rod, packing it down so it looked like an empty pop can. As man animals die due to dual can wrappers, I create one out of acetate, using a soldering iron to punch through holes, then glueing it to a seagull mouth. Other things that were illustrated on the bottom layer were children being lured into the back of a van with a packet of sweets (the packet of sweets were created using the same technique as i used for the tin cans), two people exchanging drugs, two children abusing a seagull and a man murdering his wife.
The seagull were made to the same scale as the 1:50 scale model figurines. I measure how big they needed to be comparing the size to a models leg and using a detailed sander to carve them out of a block of wood and adding detail to the beak and wings. I made some of the seagulls wings from paper, cutting them out and glueing them onto the gulls back. They were then painted using inspiration from a herring gull and a great black backed gull. To suspend a gull to make it appear as though it was flying, I used fishing wire, coated in superglue to make it rigid, to prop it up.
Once the bottom base was completed, I removed it to begin building the top layer. As there was already a ring around the lining of the case from where I had previously glued in the base before changing my mind on the presentation of my model, I lined it up against the line and sealed it using hot glue from a glue gun. I then positioned in the jetty and pier, as the angle of the pier was slightly bigger than it needed to be, I used the belt sander to sand down some of the dowel pillars. The disc sander caused one of the pillars to snap off, so this needed to be reattached using superglue. Due to the jetty being build to a flat surface, it sloped when placed on the angled base, therefore I needed something to prop it up so that it stood horizontal. To do this I cut a slim piece of wood out to the length of the jetty gluing it to the front facing side. I then used the blow torch to burn it so that it harmonised with the rest of the jetty. Using the glue gun, I glued down the jetty and pier, then attaching the beach huts on top of the jetty.
To position the models, I roughly placed them around the base. As I have created opposite models to portray good and bad, for example the man burying his murdered wife is contrasted by a child playing with her father burying him in the sand, I have placed these in similar places on both the top and bottom bases. Once they were all placed in the right areas, I used superglue to stick them down to the perspex base. I used small rectangles of fabric to portray beach towels as well as rectangles of foam to represent lilos.
To boarder my model, I lined the case with pebbles to represent rocks, to frame my work and make it look more realistic and engaging. I then sprinkled sand over the base, making sure to cover everything, using a paint brush to sweep it off of the models, towels and pier. I used a hand made funnel, made from a plastic cup cut in half,to pour sand underneath the pier.
On completion of my final piece, I feel very satisfied and proud of myself of how well my model has turned out. I feel that it looks better than I had imagined it to look pryer constructing it even though I doubted and worried it would look as good as it does.
When my model is up in the exhibition, you will be able to brush away the sand to be able to see what is underneath. For the exhibition, I will print out signs encouraging people to interact with my model as well as signs warning people of sensitive content displayed in the lower base and video projection.
For the hand in I have not secured the bottom base to the rest of the suitcase for the problem identified early, that in case of an accident during transit I will be able to fix any fallen pieces before the base is bolted into place.
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