Piano piece update......

One last thing on the arms - since I need the arms to be heavier, I drilled these holes and poured in molten lead. I've done this a few times before and it works well. I covered the lead with a mixture of wood glue and sawdust. When dry, I file and sand it down. After painting, this "adjustment" will be undetectable.



After carving all the body parts I sculpted the head from polymer clay. Since his head will nod slightly, I have to work that out before I can finish the figure.

I drilled a hole in the neck which will be the pivot point. His neck this time is solid wood- I do this because the polymer clay, even though I have a supporting stick inside, isn't that strong. His head is at a slight turn towards the audience.


His head and the finished pin in the neck.


The line to move his head goes around a rod - usually I use screw eyes, but a rod seem better here. As the line is pulled his head goes up. The line runs inside a small brass tube that runs up through his body. I had to drill out section in his chest so the lever that connects to his neck has room to move.


Th figure is finished, and this shows the final position of the upper arms. Since he's not sitting straight on to the piano I adjusted where his upper arms were positioned. Only his lower arms will move.


Final position of the piano and figure. At this point everything has to be "nailed down" because now it's on to making the mechanisms and from this point forward nothing can move, or change. To get their positions correct, I placed them on a piece of paper and traced around the legs of the piano and the figure's feet. Then I determined how big the base would be and it's orientation.




Now it's on to making the mechanisms and the base..............