August 6, 2005
Key Prototype
Rollande declares this key prototype to be "three-quarters-done." It looks a lot closer than that, at least to me.
At the moment, it's about 50% larger than the key in the comics, but clever, crafty, cunning Rollande has further tricks up her sleeves:
"The key measures about 2.25" from the bottom of the "button" to the top of the key. The widest point is 1". It is a 10th of an inch thick, or about three mm. at the head. "...
"Anyhow, I was looking the the Rio catalog, and they have this stuff I think you can take molds with and it shrinks so you can make matching, proportional earrings. THAT might answer our problems. I'll have to look into it. "
...
"I looked at RTV mold making stuff. (Room Temperature Vulcanization) ... There is also stuff that you can put into your finished mold that will magically shrink 50%... But if I got something I would be happy putting IN the mold and then filled the mold with shrink-y stuff it, I could then make ANOTHER mold of the now tiny finished item. We could get tiny. I also could do this with a wax original as the stuff is room temperature. It raises some interesting possibilities."
More soon as work progresses -- I'm REALLY getting excited! It's been about five years that I've waited to see this... six separate silversmiths (say that five times fast!) have told me that they could make me a prototype, and only Rollande has carried through this far! Hooray for Rollande!
| Comments (0)August 4, 2005
Ooh Aah.
My buddy Rollande has shown me the long-awaited prototype for the new Vögelein key necklace.
It's GORGEOUS.
The shots I have are of the rough key, fresh out of the investment and with the sprues still attached. When Rollande finishes cleaning it up, I'll post pictures.
She's planning on doing one other prototype now that she's got the system down. She'll perfect the design and then make a mold, from which she'll start making them in quantity. As we get closer to that stage, I'll let people know a ballpark figure for costs... I figure they'll be a little on the pricey side because each one is individually handcrafted. You'd be getting a work of art that took three solid years to perfect, and in my world, handicrafts like that don't come cheap; we pay people properly for their love and talent.
Yay! Keys! Yay!
These are gonna be SO PRIDDY.
| Comments (0)August 3, 2005
Success!
After about a week of brainstorming, hairpulling, researching, and avoiding, I finally have an image for the cover of Vögelein: Old Ghosts.
Now I just have to do a couple color and shadow studies in Photoshop before I go ahead with the painting. Once I have a rough colored image, I'll post it on the front page for everyone to see.
Yay!
(just please ignore the two dozen angrily crumpled balls of paper on my studio floor.)
| Comments (0)