365/2013 - Day 196

the part I like the best

Today has been a very long day so far.  I am usually awake between 6:30 and 8:00 in the morning -- not necessarily dressed and ready to go somewhere -- but awake.  This morning I had several errands to do before Andi and AB arrived to run to Ann Arbor with me to pick up some castoffs from another friend's stuff purging...and what great stuff!

When I got home from the bigger errand I brought in two lightweight shelving units.  Bootsy thinks these make a great new raised cat bed.

Twink agrees.

The SUPER stuff I got from Tracy -- a roll of wire mesh stuff, two blue wire racks, and a zig-zag folding-in-on-itself pet enclosure thing.  They will all become something eventually...or be parts of guys...and they don't take up much room at all in my garage.

Now for the part I like the best --  thinking of how to make the plaster cloth guys!

I have been tweaking this rabbit-guy tonight.   At first I was thinking I might try to shape his glass eyes (glass "gems" that I painted myself and don't really care for)...but I just wasn't happy with any of it.

no...not working for me

Then I remembered the bowlful of taxidermy eyes in the other studio.  Trying to "aim" the eyes and position them so that they appear to be looking at something...

...and do I dig the old glass eyes out or do I build over them???  Is this the right size? 

I decided to try one more pair...this is a smaller pair...and when I opened the packaging I found that one of the eyes was broken off a little on the edge...this is the pair I will use!  I wasn't really planning on "spending" a set of taxidermy eyes on this guy, but since these are damaged I may as well use them for him.

I like the smaller size better...but do elliptical cat eyes work for a rabbit-guy?

LOL -- how about goat-ish eyes if I turn them sideways?

More like this, I think.

I set the eyes aside and thought about the shape of his face...is it going to be okay with these new eyes?  Will I need to shape it a little more?  Will I need to build on around his eyes?  
 

I sketched on a mouth area and where I need to add little ball shapes.

Then his arms really started bugging me...I haven't been happy with the pointy shoulders and the position of his arms. 
 

"Hey...these things snap right off!"

Hmmm...I could leave a little bit of a "hinge" in place and build around it maybe.

Close up of inside of his arm/shoulder.

No...I think he probably needs new arms all together.

But right now he needs to quit lookin' at me!  Masking tape to my rescue.

 MAYbe he needs to be taller!  Yeah!!!  He needs to be taller!!!

I measured and cut this sturdy tube with my saw and balanced him on what could be new legs.

How about REALLY long legs -- yes -- I think I like this idea!

Sure, it's all fun and games until somebody falls over and gets hurt.  At least at this stage his ear is very easily fixed.

ouch

I marked where the skinnier, longer tubes could fit into his torso...now...how will I cut into that can bottom I wonder?  I will figure it out when I get to that part.

Then I went "shopping in the basement" and found a few items.  I know I am always going to build feet and a base as early as possible from now on.

I found a matching set of little wooden boxes, some MDF blocks, and I knocked the base off of what is left of that lamp (or table?) base with my rubber mallet.  Now my wrist hurts...wah.

I was thinking he should have some sort of a connection between leg and shoe/foot...a sort of ankle but not really.  The connectors will help me attach all of the pieces when the time comes.  I can screw the wooden ball into an MDF block and then tape/strap the blocks together to get more thickness.

And that wooden Easter egg can be the connector for the top of his leg that goes into the bottom of the can...I have an idea of how to wiggle it in so that it is a pretty tight fit before applying the plaster cloth.

There...all of his parts are assembled in one spot. 

Now to start thinking about his arms...