Having created the shell layer for the pauldron yeaterday, today I took my first pass at refining it. This process involves a lot of eyeballing, measuring, trimming, and sanding to make the part look better.

I started off today’s session by going back to yeaterday’s work to try to make sure it was properly formed and aligned – somewhat surprisingly I didn’t find anything that I felt really required revision. Compared to my first attempt and the spike work that followed, the process for building out the shoulder this time […]

Tonight I continued the work on the shoulder pauldron, filling out the shape with clay and casting the “spike fringe” parts I need to complete it.

This wasn’t the most productive day, but it’s progress: I’ve returned to the shoulder pauldron parts I drew up on sheet styrene back on Day 2 – I cut them out, duplicated each of them, and joined them together to make a 3D framework for sculpting the shoulder pauldron.

Today I continued integration of the forearm parts: A few attempts to check and correct the alignment of the parts, and then the addition of epoxy putty to start making this integration more permanent.

This work was definitely completed on the night of the 17th, and not the morning of the 18th. By no means did I fall asleep before beginning this work.

This project has a long history. I take some pride in the fact that, way back in 2005 or something, I drew up plans for this thing on graph paper and for the most part, I think what I drew in those plans back then holds up. I think I nailed it. That said, from […]

I’ve run into some trouble with the mold rubber I was using to try to produce a new mold of the “spike fringe” part for the shoulder pauldron. While I wait for yet another new mold to cure, I’ve decided to find another part of the project to work on, to keep moving forward. I […]

I’m continuing my “hundred day challenge” to rebuild the habit of working on model projects and re-engage with my Zaku Kai scratch build, a project which has dragged on forever and which I desperately want to finish. Tonight I geared up to make my new shoulder pauldron sculpt.

My Zaku Kai Project dates all the way back to my early days in the hobby. It has stood for years as one of the things I most want to finish, but find most difficult to consistently work on. I’ve decided to take a real crack at wrapping it up, in the form of a […]