14Jun
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Glych
This is after about a weeks work or so, anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour, of adding clay. Because I kept turning him over in my hands the black smeared into the white a bit, but the shape is starting to come together.

This is a pretty good profile shot. The sword is only loosely placed in his hand. The weight is good enough that I can probably point it forward when I get to that point.

This is T from the back. I have not defined any muscle tissue yet, this is just roughing in the black.

From the back he is starting to look like a cat. His feet still seem huge to me though.

The goggles are only roughed in foil at this stage and might be subject to change. They are only placed on the head, not pinned or attached.
armature wire, art, captain t, clay, process, progress, sculpture, tin foil
07Jun
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Glych
After adding some pins to hold in the last loose bits of foil and some final tweaking, it was time to add clay! Now, like an idiot, I started with the white. I should have started with the black and added white later. I was more concerned with the weight than I was the material, so the white will have to be addressed in the future.

His feet feel like they got huge at this stage, but I stuck to my model sheet. His tail is at a good angle. All dtail is only roughed in at this point.

A shot from the side and the tuxedo belly of Captain T.

Another shot from the back of the tail twist counter to the action line of his body.

T looking straight on. I had moved his arm so they lined up.
armature wire, captain t, clay, process, progress, sculpture, tin foil
31May
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Glych
I had given it some thought after a few days and realized that in order for the sword to be solid it would need a structure like the rest Captain T for the clay to hold onto. And thus- the sword has skin!

This is a shot from the back. I has added more foil to some of the tight spots to fill them out as well as worked on the angle of his fingers, tail, ears, and legs to give him more dynamic angles and the illusion of life.

This is a good shot of the profile that hints at the final design. The sword is based on Arabic design because I can’t help but think of adventure when I imagine that part of the world.

This is a fuller profile. T might be able to point his sword a little more forward, but I’m going to have to wait for that after I add some clay and see how he balances.

His arms are comically short, which I think works for the character’s appeal. But T’s the underdog against whomever he is fighting.
armature wire, captain t, design, process, progress, sculpture, tin foil
24May
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Glych
Since the last post’s progress we had *gasp for breath* moved across the country, sold a house, lived on a friend’s living room floor for nearly five months, rented a storage unit, got an apartment, I started a new job, Ian started a new job, and we both put our lives into storage. Only recently have we been unpacking bits and pieces into a small apartment until we find a new house.
And Captain T was one of the things I found! So I got a smaller gauge of armature wire to help support the detailed bits. I added toes, fingers, ears, filled out body structure, and decided that the hand IS holding a sword. I can distribute the weight correctly without him falling forward.

This is a pretty good angle for details of his fingers. His tail’s angle will change a few times since this picture. Note the outline of the sword in the new wire.

Another frontal shot of Captain T. I closed his front hand and added more facial detail with tin foil. The shapes are there but hard to see in these photos due to the material and distance.

Side view. I tried to line up his sword with his vision as much as possible. His ears are at attention.

This is a shot from the other side. The sword is not firmly placed at this point, so moving him around is actually causing it to swing back and forth a bit in these photos.

The sword is a little askew in these photos. I smashed it between the pages of some pretty heavy books at my disposal after these photos to flatten it out.

This photo does a good job of showing the angle of his tail and curve of his spine in relation to his back. A great action line.
armature wire, captain t, design, progress, sculpture, tin foil
17May
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Glych
I hadn’t taken many progress photos between the last set and this one. I basically continued to fill out the body with wire until it was solid enough to cover with tin foil. This is just ordinary tin foil found in any super market. I had only worked with the thick wire and the tin foil at this point in the process so T was pretty flimsy. His arms would bend easily just by touching them and the tin foil wasn’t secure completely around the wire. But his shape was forming.

This is viewing the figure from the back. I had bent his tail up to center the weight more over his feet. At this point his arm was still twisted back. Note the large feet. This is for stability.

Looking at the figure from the side is a lot easier to tell what stance he is in. This is pretty boring at this point and lacks the dynamic shift from later photos. His hand’s shape wasn’t defined at this point. I did not know if he would be pointing or holding a sword. I was worried about the added weight.

A frontal view of Captain T. His stance is pretty stiff at this point but was still malleable. I was able to make him twist more dynamically before the next step. Between this step and the next was several months and a move across town so he went in a box with a bunch of other tools until I found him again in the new city.
armature wire, captain t, progress, sculpture, tin foil
10May
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Glych
Pictured above is a full picture of the underlying skeleton of Captain T. At this point I had been working on the sculpture for about a day or so after finishing my work for the day. By spending anywhere between an hour to two hours a night and no more allowed me to spread the work out over time so I did not get burned out.

This is a closer picture of the skeletal structure. We’re looking at T’s front. Note how his feet are coiled over twice for stability. He is also free-standing at this stage which is very important for maintaining balance when I add to it later.
armature, process, sculpture, tin foil, wire