A new carving project: a full body figure of a ship captain in a 1:48 scale [COMPLETED BUILD]

shota70 · Nov 29, 2022

Hello dear friends
About two or three months after finishing my carving project - a lion figurehead of the ship la Belle Poule

A new carving project - a lion figurehead of the ship la Belle Poule

good evening dear friends Today I decided that in order to advance in the development of my carving skills and especially after seeing at a conference in Augsburg and here on the site. After some deliberation, I perused the monographs I had at home, and chose the figurehead of the ship la Belle...

shipsofscale.com

and focusing on the Alert model, I felt longing for the craft of carving.
For some time I have wanted to carve a figure of a ship captain similar to the figures that some of you present at different stages of building a model to give an idea and scale of the area being built.
First step, I photographed a figure of a captain from ancre monographs in a scale of 1:48, a picture from the front and the second in a side projection. I chose a piece of high-quality boxwood and glued the figures on the front and side.

In the next step I sawed the contours of the figure with a wire saw

And from this stage began the carving craft that I love using different chisels and other tools. I decided to work on the legs and shoes area first. I'm just at the beginning of the journey/work I promise to keep updating the progress, for now you'll be impressed by the photos

Uwek · Nov 30, 2022

BigFoot

My friend: It is interesting to follow your photo sequence - I never carved until now, so I am also interested to learn.......

RDN1954 · Nov 30, 2022

Out of my league....

shota70 · Nov 30, 2022

RDN1954 said:
Out of my league....

My dear friend, never underestimate your abilities, you just need to make your desires and dreams come true. I am at your service

Huc Bernard · Nov 30, 2022

Hello,
it's not a captain it's a carpenter drawn by Jean Boudriot for his monographs.
I modeled it in 3D a few years ago. A design that can help with carving :

After I bring them on vacation :

Et j'en ai imprimé :

clogger · Nov 30, 2022

I had a go at a plastic figure conversion. A 1/36 version. Not very good however. I’m looking at converting some more figures in the future.

shota70 · Nov 30, 2022

Huc Bernard said:
Hello,
it's not a captain it's a carpenter drawn by Jean Boudriot for his monographs.
I modeled it in 3D a few years ago. A design that can help with carving :View attachment 343344

After I bring them on vacation :
View attachment 343345

Et j'en ai imprimé :
View attachment 343346

Wow, you have done wonderful work
no doubt that will help a lot, thanks

Uwek · Dec 1, 2022

Huc Bernard said:
Hello,
it's not a captain it's a carpenter drawn by Jean Boudriot for his monographs.
I modeled it in 3D a few years ago. A design that can help with carving :View attachment 343344

After I bring them on vacation :
View attachment 343345

Et j'en ai imprimé :
View attachment 343346

I love them very much
@shota70 : the stick he has in his hand is a meter-bar - so you can measure / survey the height - the lower meter is separated into 10cm steps with black and white paints

shota70 · Dec 2, 2022

good evening dear friends
Today I continued the carving work on the carpenter's legs.
I greatly regretted the drawings that Huc shared with us.
I focused on the outline of the shoes, the shoe buckle, the outline of the tab that comes out of the shoe at the top and the outline of the sole of the shoe. Then in the contours of the calves and thighs.
I'll let you see the pictures.

ConsNZ · Dec 2, 2022

Beyond anything I could ever dream of doing.... brilliant talent Mr Shota70.

RogerD · Dec 2, 2022

Hi Shota,

I am very impressed with your carvings. It is certainly not as easy as it may look. To be able to think and carve in 3D shows an artistic flair that comes across in your early works.

janos · Dec 2, 2022

A good start!
János

shota70 · Dec 3, 2022

ConsNZ said:
Beyond anything I could ever dream of doing.... brilliant talent Mr Shota70.

RogerD said:
Hi Shota,

I am very impressed with your carvings. It is certainly not as easy as it may look. To be able to think and carve in 3D shows an artistic flair that comes across in your early works.

janos said:
A good start!
János

thank you very much my dear friend for the compliments and kind words

DARIVS ARCHITECTVS · Dec 3, 2022

WOW. That carving is coming along well. Being able to see it half way shaped lets us see more of the process, which is very helpful to those like me who don't carve.

shota70 · Dec 3, 2022

DARIVS ARCHITECTVS said:
WOW. That carving is coming along well. Being able to see it half way shaped lets us see more of the process, which is very helpful to those like me who don't carve.

my dear friend
This is indeed the reason why I try at every stage of carving, to help those who would like both to experiment and to receive educational support from those who are more experienced than me in the art of carving.

shota70 · Dec 3, 2022

good evening dear friends
Today I continued with the carving, where the focus is on the entire area from the neck to the edge of the cloak / coat below. First I sketched the different contours on all sides of the body as well as at the bottom of the robe in connection with the thigh area.

After that I started carving the various contours, I'll let you get an impression of the intermediate results.

Pathfinder65 · Dec 3, 2022

Wow, that is fascinating work. There is a little person hiding in that block of wood.

Stevedownunder · Dec 3, 2022

shota70 said:
good evening dear friends
Today I continued with the carving, where the focus is on the entire area from the neck to the edge of the cloak / coat below. First I sketched the different contours on all sides of the body as well as at the bottom of the robe in connection with the thigh area.
View attachment 343679 View attachment 343680 View attachment 343681 View attachment 343682 View attachment 343683
After that I started carving the various contours, I'll let you get an impression of the intermediate results.
View attachment 343684 View attachment 343685 View attachment 343686 View attachment 343687 View attachment 343688 View attachment 343692

Hi Shota70,
Fantastic work, I have no experience with carving and was wondering if you could show what sort of hand tools you are using and did you make some tooling yourself?
I have had little experience with box wood, the only thing I would say is it is incredibly tough to machine.

Cheers,
Stephen.

shota70 · Dec 3, 2022

Stevedownunder said:
Hi Shota70,
Fantastic work, I have no experience with carving and was wondering if you could show what sort of hand tools you are using and did you make some tooling yourself?
I have had little experience with box wood, the only thing I would say is it is incredibly tough to machine.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Dear Stephen
I will try to answer your questions about work tools in the coming days (I just want to take pictures of the various tools for you), I saw your message minutes before going to bed.
Regarding working with boxwood, I think it is an excellent wood for carving, as long as the chisels are sharp
good night my friend

shota70 · Dec 4, 2022

good evening dear friends
Tonight I continued with the carving, while this evening I focused on the left hand and the areas around it. First I will answer Stephen's question, I use a combination of several manual carving chisels alongside an electric dremel. In Dremel, I use diamond nail polishers, ball drills of 0.5-1 mm size, sanding/sharpening stones, magnifying glasses and sharpening accessories.

Now let's go back to the carving of the sleeve/left hand, before carving I examine the drawings carefully and transfer them onto the wood and start carving. I am slowly making the contours of the sleeve as well as the fit to the jacket in the lower part as well as in the chest to neck area.
I'm still in the middle of the process,
think this time too the pictures will express the carving process , more than words.