Modeler12 carving attempt - Me too; I am willing to try almost anything.

[reklein]

The tulip doesn't necessarily have to be center you could arrange the pattern to fit the grain a little better maybe.  Also do not do any sanding til you are completely finished carving as any grit left on you work piece will take the edge off your nice carving tools.

[Modeler12]

The tulip is done as far as carving is concerned. It was my first attempt other than the scroll that was done with an Exacto blade (#11).

I learned a lot about how to use carving tools, things I had taken for granted in the past.

Keeping the edge sharp is obvious, but it did not take me long to learn that 'slicing' the wood is so much better than forcing the gouge or knife straight into the wood. I try to show that in my next project.

 

The small gouge was used to remove some of the background material. I guided the blade with my right hand and pushed the gouge to the right with my left hand. This produced a 'slice' rather than a 'chip'.

  

After the slice was removed, I used a knife to trim up the edges.

At this point I will repeat the steps to cut the background deeper.
 

Slicing versus dicing is something I know about in the kitchen. I now have a tendency to move the knife back and forth as I 'slice' green onions or anything else.

I am curious if that could be applied to razor blades.

How about slanting the cartridge at a small angle Mr. Gillett?  

[aviaamator]

Looking forward to the continuation!

[Modeler12]

Thank you Aviaamator, and since you asked, let me show the last part of this experiment. Carving letters.

 

This basswood plague will be a Christmas present for my wife. Hopefully I can complete it in the next week or so.

Her picture will be inside the recessed opening.

Carving letters was a whole new experience for me. I selected an engravers font, printed it and transferred it to the wood. Then I used a V-gouge and knife to cut out the letters. They don't show too clearly, but on another piece I did the same thing and stained it quickly. That brought out the letters much clearer.

  

I have a long way to go with the carving, but this probably will be the last post of this series.
After all, this is a model ship forum.

PS Aviaamator, being northeast of St. Petersburg you must have some cold weather and lots of snow. Nice for Christmas

[mtaylor]

Jay,

 

At least show the finished work.. if not here then in Shore Leave.  Please?  

[Modeler12]

Ok Mark, if you don't mind let me add a few more comments along the way.

 

The outline of the design has been an issue here with Chuck providing the laser cut parts while I had been wondering how to cut the perimeter otherwise. I am still curious how others have approach this other than 'brute-force'. For large parts it is a bit easier but just as important.

I am not trying to give instructions here (after all I am very clumsy and new to the game), but let me continue to show how I am going about relief carving the roses. 

 

Carving the background comes first. In this case I wanted a simple depth cut. Because the design is rather busy I did not want to go any more than about 1/8 inch deep. The tricky part was the inside cuts, the open areas between the stem and leaves.

All of this was time consuming but involved several tools. I used the gouges and chisels for most but I did end up using a couple curved files to get underneath the edges. No sandpaper at this point.

The fun part starts with the leaves, stem and flower. Depth perception come into play.

For example, the leaf closest to the flower goes underneath. Hence it is cut deep at the tip. 

I might also mention that the design has a lot of notches on the leaves.
The leaves of roses don't have that (see earlier picture), so I will 'smooth' them a bit and make them a bit larger.

I'll show a few more steps later.

[Modeler12]

Ok Mark, if you don't mind let me add a few more comments along the way.

 

The outline of a small design and how to cut it has been an issue here. Chuck provided the laser cut parts which was great to start with. But I had been wondering how to cut the perimeter otherwise. I am still curious how others have approach this other than 'brute-force'. For large parts it is a bit easier but just as important.

I am not trying to give instructions here (after all I am very clumsy and new to the game), but let me continue to show how I am going about relief carving the roses. 

 

Carving the background comes first. In this case I wanted a simple depth cut. Because the design is rather busy I did not want to go any more than about 1/8 inch deep. The tricky part was the inside cuts, the open areas between the stem and leaves.

All of this was time consuming but involved several tools. I used the gouges and chisels for most but I did end up using a couple curved files to get underneath the edges. No sandpaper at this point. It is amazing what can be done with sharp gouges alone.

The fun part starts with the leaves, stem and flower. Depth perception come into play.

For example, the leaf closest to the flower goes underneath. Hence it is cut deep at the tip. 
I might also mention that the design has a lot of notches on the leaves. 

The leaves of roses don't have that (see earlier picture), so I will 'smooth' them a bit and make them a bit larger.

I'll show a few more steps later.

Edited December 19, 2016 by Modeler12

[mtaylor]

Ok Mark, if you don't mind let me add a few more comments along the way.

 

 

 

I don't mind, but it's Chuck's call.  That's why I mentioned Shore Leave as an alternative.  I'm just sucking up all the info I can.

[Modeler12]

Leaves are done, next is the flower.

[Modeler12]

Just in time for Christmas.

 

And a Merry Christmas to all of you.

May the new year bring you good health and happiness with peace on earth.

[Jack12477]

Very nicely done, Jay.  And a Merry Christmas to you also.

[Canute]

Let me add my well done, too, Jay.

 

And a Merry Christmas to you and yours.

[mrjimmy]

You have come a long way, Jay; nice work.  Merry Christmas to you and your Rose of Sharon.

 

Jim

[Modeler12]

Thank you guys. 
The three projects thus far were fun and I learned a lot about carving and the tools involved.

For future designs that involve model ship decorations I now have a better feel for what it takes.

To be sure, what I have done so far is on a larger scale and I need to consider smaller tools in the future. 

But is that not what modeling is all about? 
We shrink the big things and try to duplicate them the best we can. Think big, work small.

 

I do have one more project but I won't get into the details here.

It involves making a display sign using wood and carved letters for my USS Constitution model.

I was hoping to do that using a piece of the real ship but (alas) I don't have one of those pieces that was promised to me in the past.

 

PS. Jim, the 'Rose of Sharon' is actually not a rose but a flower that is part of the hibiscus family. It just did not fit my design.

[mtaylor]

Beautiful work, Jay.  She'll love it.   

[mrjimmy]

By "Rose of Sharon", I meant your lovely wife.

 

Jim

[Modeler12]

A word of caution about copying carving plans: 'don't always assume the drawing is correct'.

 

Earlier I mentioned the book(s) by Lora Irish and how I found the examples very helpful. However, in her book of plans she makes mistakes. For example, the leaves of a rose are 'opposite' on the stem, not 'alternate'. Likewise those leaves are not lobed but serrated or toothed and much broader than hers. I realized this much later after I had carved her design.
 

Another example is her plan for some rope, part of which is shown below. I wanted to use this for the border of a sign but noticed that the rope she shows reversed the lay on the other side of the knot. That's impossible.

Likewise the knot is strange and not at all the way I tie a simple knot. So, I made a model and will change the design shown below to correspond to the green rope. The reason I decided to do this is that I wanted to do some 3-D carving.

Sorry, I just realized that her knot is a figure eight knot. That is probably better looking after all, but the rope is still wrong.

Edited December 26, 2016 by Modeler12

[Modeler12]

Happy New Year