3D Comunnication Getting Things Ready 4th-6th February

 Getting Things Ready   4th-6th February

With my piece finished, it was now time to start getting the presentation sorted. With just three days before we were off to the gallery I had to make sure I had everything ready, then all I have to do was pick my spot and set up.

Before I could do any of that I needed to get all the necessary pieces together. This meant finding a plinth for my bracelet to stand on. Finding one the right size was the difficult task. I needed one that was wide, but also slightly over waist height so that my jewellery was easier to see. I looked around the drawing room and there were two possibly plinths. I chose the larger of the two. With my plinth happily sitting in 3D, I could start sanding it down a little ready to be painted. Once a quick sanding was done, I could start painting.

With my plinth base drying, my attention turned to the arm I wanted my jewellery to be displayed on. It was dirty and has a lot of the original paint chipped off. I couldn't display my work on it as it was, so I had to spent a lot of time cleaning it. This took longer than I would of liked as it had a lot of dry paint and what looked like ink on it. After scrubbing it a little, I could then move onto the next step which was more sanding. With a lot of the arm being uneven, I had to sand it all over so I had a smooth surface for my next step, but that would have to wait for tomorrow.

With my manikin's arm clean and my plinth dry, I could move on to spraying the arm and measuring the top of my plinth. I had to decide how big the top of my plinth had to be. This was a very important matter and I had to make sure that I left just enough room round my piece for it to look professional. Too big and my work would look lost, too small and it would look cramped. After much measuring I decided that leaving 10 cm around my arm once it was in the centre would be best. I had to go searching for a top that was 60x70cm. With a lot of board already cut for other plinths, I hoped there would be one the right size for mine. I was really on the look out for anything. After much searching, I found three tops that could be used, but that had to be cut down a little.

I could then start spraying my manikin's arm. This would take seconds to do, but longer to dry. I had to rest the arm on top of some wood, then turn it over to do all the sides. Time was ticking away and I had other things to do. I left the arm to dry, coming back to apply more coats. I had to figure out how the manikins arm will be attached to the plinth? I wanted it at an angle so that people could walk around it and see underneath as well. I wanted it to be at a 40 degree angle. I had sort out a way to fix it to stay in place and be stable.

After talking to the tutor there were a couple of options. The first was drilling into the manikin's arm, which I didn't want to do as it would make a mess and might break the arm all together. The other option was to fix a plate to the end and glue the pole to the plate. This was a much better idea and I was happy I could do it in time.

With only one day left I had to make sure I was finished with everything by Friday. Having sorted out the plinth and my manikins arm, all I had to do was cut the pole and plate, so I could fix the arm to the plinth. This started out with measuring the stump of the arm. Luckily it had a small metal screw that I could slide a thin sheet of white acrylic round it so that it would stay in place. Having measured the area of the base of the arm, I could then cut by hand a small piece of scrap acrylic to fit. Sadly this wasn't as easy as I hoped. The first attempt didn't work with the hole for the screw being to large, while the second attempt was correct, but while I was drilling the second hole the acrylic snapped. With time slipping away I had to resort to a different tactic. Once again the laser cuter was my only option. Having scanned the manikin's arm into the computer, and with the measurement to fit the scale, I quickly mapped out the design and in no time at all I had it ready to cut. I now know how to work the laser cutter and get the right settings for what I need. With the acrylic cut out I then had to clean the pole I was going to glue it to. Once again something that took more time than I thought. After all that I could cut the pole to a 40 degree angle and glue the acrylic onto it. With little time left before the workshop was closed, I had to then cut a block of wood for the pole to fix into. After much testing, the right drill was found that fitted the pole securely without having too much free room for movement.

Luckily I got most of the things done before the exhibition so that I only have to drill a hole in the top of the plinth and cut the pole to the right height. I would be done, leaving me free to help out where every I can.