Reference maquettes don't have to be made from Sculpey. Any materials that you've got in the studio or workshop can come in handy (which is a good excuse for being a lateral thinker and a packrat).
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi747Azel2oXyeKAxiBn5G18rPHkL-luMjHyXbte3Kyc1QL0TlV1ePhiZ7rsr0kbWvqlcdY-CQil9WFfAp5QDIZpSu5RXdDZBDs2RxWCReI_orOqL_4wGFHV4oAt-K_L-DvJo00xuzJV04p/s280/Submersible_Maquette.sm.jpg)
I constructed this very rough maquette for Arthur Denison's submersible using cardboard for the body profile and a clear plastic egg shape, which I filled with kit-bashed plastic model parts. The long gray pieces came from a model railroad supply store.
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As you can see, I didn't follow the maquette closely at all, but it was really valuable for imagining Arthur Denison's submersible. I also referenced reconstructions of Bushnell's Turtle, a Revolutionary-era ancestor of submarines.
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Combined with a kronosaur maquette that I had on hand, along with underwater photos of whales, I felt more sure of myself when I tackled a more difficult scene like this one, from Dinotopia: The World Beneath.
Were you tempted to submerse it?
ReplyDeleteVery cool James, reminds me of a submarine for the bath tub I had as a kid.
ReplyDeleteI had to look up kit-bashed, makes sense, its right up your alley, now I know.
An artist/sculptor worth checking out, I saw a show of his at the Oceanside Museum of Art, is John Taylor.
He use cast-off computer parts among other things to create (folk art)ships. You would probably enjoy these.
http://www.folkartships.com/
It's posts like these that justify my need to keep my labeled boxes of odds and ends haha
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to try making up a few rough models and such for my next piece! :D I think it will really help me in my trouble area of believable lighting in my backgrounds.
Katie!!! You finally posted. Congrats on the contest btw.
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