sounds so simple .. but its not!gold necklace for teenage girl

It sounds so simple .. but its not! The next five posts are therefore geared towards the specialities of making theatre set design models, but many of the pointsapply in general terms to work in other disciplines. Although the second point on this list is the accepted way of dealing with any deficiency, or safeguarding against being misled, there is still a great deal that we either dont have time to test or dontrealize theres aneed to. a balsawood dowel may not be strong enough. Ive made the curved piece longer than necessary because its easier to handle it this way and its easy enough to trim the end off once its firmly in place. Often the blades are a little thicker than scalpel blades and this can make a noticeable difference when cutting because they produce more friction! Ideally, our first experience of the material should be exactly the same! What I mean here is that if for example I need to make a structure that looks like real wood it often makes sense to use real wood (if the scale looks right), but it doesnt make sense for me to construct in wood because Im not familiar with working with it in a constructional way. starting with how steady the metal ruler will lie on it, how resilient or giving the surface is to the initial pass with the blade, how many passes are needed to cut through cleanly without excessive pressure. Against this though, one has to weigh up the fact that a great deal can only be learned by doing; that theres a limit to what can be visualized beforehand; that being hands on withmaterials will suggest and inspire different and unforeseen ideas! Believe me, its best and easiest to make it this way, even if the stair itself is going to be enclosed between other walls. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Again, foamed Pvc is ideal for this because it is flexible but thin styrene sheet or even stencil card would also be suitable. the last tread of the staircase itself, before the step up to the platform) can be extended if theres a gap and usually it wont be noticeable. This is not a sudden jump forward to talking about how to create surfaces although, as Ive mentioned, one does have to include certain decisions about them from the beginning especially if theyll add to the thickness of structures. Its not just the necessaryvisual embodiment of worked out intentions (necessary because others have to see them) .. its a major part of that process ofworking out! But if over 1mm thick it can matter, especially if the edge is to be glued on something else at a right-angle. But it doesnt start with quality necessarily .. it starts with quantity. It probably doesnt matter how incomplete that image is or how silly the sources are, as long as the writer is doing their job properly in directing our attention to whats important. I know for a fact that my problems with numbers are because I dont retain them, theyre not memorable in my head for more than an instant if they remain as just numbers. They can quite easily be sharpened on a piece of wet and dry or Emery paper (usually best 600-800 grit) by stroking the blade firmly at a shallow angle, a few times each side. Because the structurewas three-dimensional Ihad to makethe special foamboard construction below to glue it on. For this reason Ivearrangedthese notes .. going from the general to thespecific .. firstlyunder the heading General approach, which is more about ways of thinking; followed by Practical guidance which turns more towards ways of doing; ending with more specificWorking examples which aim to illustrate how these ways of thinking and ways of doing combine at the worktable level. This needs to be found first, so that its diameter can be entered on the drawing. One really does have to have a feeling of steady flow to do it properly and it usually doesnt work if youre agitated. up to 1mm) the angle of the cut edge, in other words whether its at a right-angle to its surface or not, doesnt matter so much. If you dont feel confident that the ruler will stay where youve put it, you either need a better ruler or you need to do something so that it will grip better. Keeping track of what is being glued to where. The knife on the far right is not a scalpel, but is another very common type (especially with hobby or craft shops)and isnot as good in a number of respects. One could say that the less youre confident in your powers of visualization the more you should do this. So for example we may have the general circus image, but then we have tostartmaking it real by questioning .. can we trust what we think we know; what bits dont we know, and whichcan only be found by starting or experimenting; what more do we need to start that? Below this is the strip for the treads waiting to be cut. The scaffolding was made from 2mm acrylic rod, superglued together and then painted to look like metal. .. looking at a mass of cut pieces on the cutting mat having lost track of which of them were pieces and which were off-cuts. Its a subject for another discussion whether thats at all possible for us of course, but then afterwards.. our reading has to become very selfconscious, biased and critical. Its a favourite catch-thought of mine that success in model-making lies more with the head than the hands, meaning that it rests upon thorough planning or thinking through; that nothing reliable can be achieved without researching the right information; that problems are solved by a mixture of focused and divergent thinking; that one can only be as good as the materials one knows about. Ive adapted this account from my book Model-making: Materials and Methods but Ive also extended it to include a method for open steps and a basic approach to making a spiral staircase. Then, the move towards quality begins simply with questioning; the act of interrogating what it is were seeing, where it might come from, how good those sources areandwhat visual assumptions we might have beenmaking. This can easily be sliced off later (I havent glued the bottom step to the base!). The only way to solve this (until it wears down a little with use!) The scaffolding construction below needed a bit more preparation to set up the pieces for gluing. Thinking purely of my own experience, I cant imagine what quagmire Id still be in now if I hadnt found out about and played around with Kapa-line foamboardor foamed Pvc sheet! After all the treads are glued in place the piece can be easily loosened from the foamboard support. As for the first, I could just say that, really, cutting out a nice, smooth circle which you have drawn with a compass is just a matter of practise! Another way of setting things up, involving a different technique of gluing, is offered by the fact that thin liquids will be drawn into tight gaps (whats known as capillary action). In my experience a standard surgical-type scalpel (i.e. Most wall structures turn out to be just a base layer with additions one side or the other (speaking in terms of making them in a model! You have to be prepared for the sketch model being judged on exact face value and you need to be clear about what you considerpurposely vague and what isnt. Dont be afraid of making it multi-coloured if that helps .. this is not prissy! Another way is writing on a piece of masking tape. You need the practise to get an idea of how your hand behaves in that situation; how much you can rest it on the material but still slide it along smoothly; whether its easier holding the blade upright or more oblique; whether it goes more smoothly using a sharp blade or a slightly blunted one; whether you need to be sitting down or standing up over it. The scalpel in the centre has been fitted with a rubber cover, which is much more comfortable and makes the knife much easier to control. the front of this theatre model-box is a relatively simple structure which can be put together in layers. Its much easier to maintain the knife upright if you can actually see the angle while cutting, i.e. Undoubtedly somewould seem to bebetter at it than others .. but its more a case of some being better at aspects of it. Planning is supposed to be logical and rational, but it can also become paradoxically unrealistic! The ability to see ahead .. to actuallywork in a very practical and realistic way, butin ones mind ..is the first and most important tool that the designer reaches for! Bystarting at the top step (aligned as it will be with the platform edge)and countingthe progresssion of steps downwards on this plan you can find out how the spiral ends (or rather how the staircase begins). My point here is that its important to recognise which of these you are, acknowledge your strengths and question whether you can improve. softer or less fibrous card for these circlesthan youve used for the rest of the modeland dont even attempt to cut circles from the thick, dense, hard recycled type! After gluing I just needed to remove the pieces of masking tape and slide the scaffolding construction off the supporting form. I find the last four areas relatively easy to advise on, perhaps because they can be more easily illustrated, but Ive always had some difficulty sorting out what I should say for the first. 1.5mm .. higher than they should be? The glue takes longer to set completely but the piece will stay together in the meantime and can be moved .. it just shouldnt be put under any pressure for a while. By this I mean two different tasks .. firstly being able to cut circles or regular curves in a flat sheet, and secondly building structures such as curved walls. The only way to keep a mental grip on this is by drawing up and noting clearly on the drawing what goes on where .. or at least what you plan to do at that stage. In any case there will be some slight variation however exact one tries to be; the overall effect will look right! Please note before you start reading this older post that I have long since included a version in my Methods pages, under Making realistic models, which can be accessed above. At the very least, anyone not practised in cutting needs to consider it a subject in itself which needs to be rehearsed, explored and made peace with as far as possible before being able to do anything else. If youre fortunate enough to live within reasonable distance of a materials shop such as 4D modelshop in London there is such a range of dowels and tubes that one can usually find exactly the diameter one wants either in styrene, acrylic or wood. But probably an even better, more memorablestarting point isjust to go and see whatan outlet like the4D modelshop in London has to offer. Things like miss-matched joins, warped surfaces, ragged areas or spots of glue are only human, but even these little things can prevent a good model from being fully convincing, rather like tiny errors of continuity in a film which are enough to wake us up from the illusion. 0.5mm) white styrene sheet is very bendable (available from model shops such as 4D). .. in particular, can you see your marked line clearly enough or is the edge of the ruler casting a shadow over it? Swann-Morton No.3 handle, on the left below) is by far the best knife to use for model-making work. Changing the scalpel blade (i.e. better if theyre a little challenging or even inspiring!. This is my point though .. Ive made my selection from exploring many! I use metal blocks (steel offcuts) to glue pieces against. H rather than HB to give a sharper pencil line or, failing that, sharpen the end to a fine point using a nail-file; as with most other cutting, make your first pass just a gentle guiding cut on the surface to be able to move more freely without having to press down too much; if possible use a different, i.e. Make sure that youre always planning enough in hard practical terms (i.e. I still hold that the key to solving most model-making challenges is to at least know of the existence of a wide variety of material options. The first pass with the knife should simply be to establish a guiding scratch-line which only has to be deep enough to be found again with the tip of the blade. Art or graphics shops often sell spare points. In fact theyre not because in making this I fortunately anticipated that and sliced a total of 3mm off the bottoms of the profiles before gluing to the base piece. See Common sizes of things in the Methods sectionfor more on standard step measurements, but lets say that each step needs to be 200mm high (known as the rise or riser) and 250mm deep (or along, known as the tread). If left on permanently they will lose their tack over time but will still improve the rulers grip. Holding onto that position put the tip of the scalpel in the end of the line and move that end of the ruler against it. If on the other hand a fast-setting glue such as superglue is used this will not offer the same margin for repositioning so the set-up is important in this case as a means of making sure that pieces can be positioned right first time. You can use bright post-its as below; these are cheerful and important looking, but they could come off. Below, some of the side poles needed to be glued afterwards and these also needed small temporary supports to assist gluing them in the right place. results in frustration and disappointment! Secondly the scalpel blade is more firmly supported and this support extends further towards the fine tip, as you can see. Of course its important to have a notion of the bigger picture, why it is youre doing things and where it could all lead, but dont allow this picture to overwhelm the present or close your mindto the changes that each step could generate. Sketch model-making .. in other words making quick, rough mock-ups to get a better idea ofhow somethingistruthfully likely to look .. is a standard and, I believe, indispensable practice in theatre design! Everyone has it, because otherwise none of us would be able to rehearse a difficult conversation, write a shopping list or plan a journey! Maybe its not so surprising because its a beautiful form, and is often the only attractive solution within a confined space. This will add a little extra height though, so to compensate the same needs to be taken off the base of each profile. To make the rake properly the height at thehighest pointneeds to be measured together with the length along the floor from the lowest point and drawn up on paper (as a long, thin triangle) to get the gradient. If card is being used it needs to be a relatively soft one, such as mountboard, and .. this is important .. not too thin, i.e. I mean the big things, starting for example with the theatre model-box and then themain structures of the set .. the principle architecture in other words. But I can suggest other things that are likely to help in any case, and these are: if you can, find a lead for your compass thats slightly harder than the standard supplied i.e. I left that fact out to make this point .. does it really matter? Instead, the kind of planning Im advocating is episodic rather than epic! Here a thin plastic solvent is being used to glue styrene plastic, but thin superglue can also be used and this can also work with card. The more weve seen in our lives, whatever the sources, the more well be able to visualize. If, for whatever reason, the ruler moves while cutting, dont try repositioning it by eye. With this method the score lines are always visible, whichever side youre facing, but the way to eliminate this completely is to cover the curve with another surface of strong paper (or thin plastic), preferably using spraymount to glue it evenly. whether fast or slow), gluing needs to be prepared for. We may be able to visualize thewhole process in some detail, if weve done it or something very similar before. Scale model-making of this kind is so dependent on being able to cut a straight line in the right place. I made the wallpieces below to illustrate how seemingly involved wall surfaces can just be a collection of boxes on a base layer. This can be left if its not going to be visible, and if it has to go it can usually be easily cut away afterwards. Learning about new materials isnt difficult or particularly time-consuming! You should also rehearse what it feels like to run the tip of the blade steadily along the metal edge, without necessarily cutting at all. All of these, and more, are considerations and only you can discover what works best for you. If all goes well the scored card should bend easily and evenly, and the strips act as reinforcement keeping it straight vertically. I have confidence in being able to construct whatever I want in Pvc plastic, so the best answer for me is to construct in plastic and thinly clad with wood. There are no special prizes for being able to cut through in one go! Its important though that whatever you use has a firm surface and that superglue sets well on it i.e. It might have been simpler and perhaps quicker though to think of the step proportion 200:250 (which is the same overall)reduced to1:1.25 and simply multiply 4 metres by 1.25. Lastly the blades for this knife are more cheaply made, not as sharp and .. not all the way through) from top to bottom. The best blade to use with it is the 10A. Is the cutting matt really flat on the table or are there small bits of scrap under it? Ive found some ways which have helped .. dividing 200mm into 4 metres to give 20 and multiplying that by 250mm to give 5 metres length. 1.5mm mountboard is usually fine. I think .. not as easy to find. those usually made of metal, often with open steps) is a round central pole, as above, and this is the starting point for construction. Consider the drawing a master-plan .. take time over it, treat it with respect, put it up on the wall if you can, update it immediately if you make changes. Its stronger anyway, its actually quicker,and the extra material hardly makes a difference in cost. For the next stage above Ive used coloured mountboard to make it clearer how Ive chosen to fill in the steps because there could be a number of ways. The closer these lines are to each other the better, and the smoother the curve, but it depends how much patience you think youre going to have. Ive got to the stage where I can comfortably make almost anything imaginable from either foamed Pvc, Kapa-line foamboard, blue Styrofoam, strip styrene, obeche wood sheet and Polycell Fine Surface polyfilla. Ive delivered these sessions many times before but Im always driven to re-evaluate, so this time Im using that as an opportunity to write up my preparation for those sessions here. Knowledge of materials and where to get them. The positioning needs to be checked and then fixed in stages since this is not possible in one go. The grid helps in keeping lines straight and spacing regular, and the extended lines will help when positioning the ruler to cut against later (its hard to keep to parallels when all youve got is thumbnail sized lines). I then inserted these in the right positions using Pva wood glue to allow for some repositioning. Whichever materials are being used and whatever the properties of the glue (i.e. I needed to be careful not to apply too much superglue to the joints otherwise it would have glued thescaffolding to the card. in making it look exactly as you want the real set to be built,should extend to all details. Because of this the materials and tools for effective model-making are not just those which can be convenientlyplaced on the table; theyinclude the more fundamental attitudes, areas of acquired knowledge, and ways of thinking/or seeing/or organizing which underly the whole process of work. But I have to say, they rarely matched completely. Here I am gluing it into position against the top and bottom support curves in stages, starting by fixing one end firmly, pressing it tight and then introducing thin superglue into the seam from outside (the technique of gluing from outside illustrated earlier). If the glue is slow-setting such as Pva wood glue, pieces need to be held (ideally fairly tightly) in position until the glue grabs sufficiently. If not, we can still piece together a provisional visualization from general things we know about materials and ways of making, mixed with some more specificsnap-shots ofthings weve experienced which couldbe related. Can much of this be scraped off? Speaking of that, you might have noticed that whereas I was careful before to adjust the height of the two profile pieces to allow for the extra card base, I didnt say anything about the extra thickness of card which has been added to make the treads. Is it that you find it difficult to retain numbers in your head long enough to work with them or that you cant see them in your head sufficiently as quantities for adding together? Thedirection of entry onto a staircase is something that cant just be left to chance (it has to be appropriate to the way its going to be used)and ifit needs changing there are two things that can be done. The best way to start constructing is, as I say, to superglue pairs of tread and riser together first, trying to keep to right-angles. often as far removed from reality as it can get! These pieces need to be labelled as soon as cut, including the record of where the top or bottom is etc. This ensured that the upright piece was glued in the right position along the edge of the base piece. height and depth) for a step, the height you want your staircase to go to and the distance along thats going to be needed to get there. The best way to make a stable rake is to cut a number of those trianglesand glue them at regular intervals to the underside of a sheet. Above I am dividing up a strip measured the full length of the steps to make the risers. That is, the base layer is a cut-out following the exact dimensions of the proscenium window with a thick strip built upon the front of it and another strip fixed to the back of it to complete the proscenium arch depth. There are other sheet materials which can be used for creating curved surfaces without the need for scoring. This drawing can form the template for cutting out the individual treads later (if copied and tacked on with repositionable spraymount), but it is also essential for working out how many steps will be needed for the height required. There are dangers, both in terms of scrutinising the present in too much detail or trying to look too far into the distance. It needs to be kept in that curve while drying though i.e. They have a very small blade in place of a pencil lead. Once the dimensions are sorted, two identical profiles (side views) need to be drawn up and cut out. My theory is that its the creatively divergent thinkers that make the best theatre designers, and quite a few of thosethat I know or have taught have difficulty with the number processing aspects of the work (although Im sure it doesnt follow that if youre good with numbers youre neither creatively divergentnor a good theatre designer!). It pays to be divergent and explore all sorts of different options but after a while it also pays to converge upon a chosen few that one knows particularly well. But what if one needs a run of steps which are not boxed in, for example if theyre clear underneath or as part of a metal fire-escape? The easiest way to do this is to stick them on a base cut to the proper size. Scale for example needs to be asexact as you can manage, even in a sketch model, otherwise nothing specific can be learnt from it. that you have the basicmaterials, tools and information) to get you through the next few practical steps. Make repeated and regular-spaced half-cuts (i.e. After checking for a reasonable match, the profile pieces need to be fixed in a position where theyre upright, the right distance apart, parallel and in sync. But if youve tried and tried again, and youre still not getting anything like a circle, there are other things that could help. But because the sketch model has the other function, more a communicative than a freely exploratory one, when working with the director for example, its uses can get a bit confused. Its not entirely true that There is no such thing as too much planning. It cant just be taken for granted that everyone will be able to do this with just a little practise and often people who could otherwise become excellent makers are put off the whole idea of model-making just because this one aspect is never really conquered. One solution for achieving this is to cut it as a flat piece which can then be glued and wrapped around in one piece. The right-angle supports glued inside are essential to make sure that the profiles remain properly upright. The photo below illustrates how one would normally approach building any curved structures in the model, whether concave (curving inwards) or convex (curving outwards). Specially made supporting forms like this are known as construction jigs. The individual pieces of rod needed to be taped onto card to hold them in position while glue was introduced into the joints. But model-making is also part of theact of designing .. a means of assisting the designers ability to pre-visualize. These will become the sides of a freestanding stair box. The same regulations advise on how deep (horizontally) the treads should be at their middle point and I wont go into detail here but good advice can be found on sites such as, http://www.accentironwork.com/building%20code.html. In the first place, never assume that a sheet of card (or especially an off-cut of card) has perfect right-angles even if its straight out of the shop. Even so its best if one gets used to holding the scalpel upright in the first place. But having to build it in model form with at least a semblance of its grace will tax ingenuity and patience to the limit! The other thing is, sketch or rough in this context should be understood more in terms of quickly made or not precious rather than necessarily inexact. Its usually only the very tip of the blade that gets blunt so its best to focus on sharpening just this small part, flexing it a little into the paper. These knives are not necessarily cheaper than scalpels (at least they shouldnt be if the shop prices fairly) and in any case .. why should one think about saving just 1 or so on a tool which will last and which ones using all the time? If your answer was No, of course not! This means that difficult-to-glue pieces such as the curving sheet below can be set up in the correct position and the glue is introduced along the joint afterwards. Again, the more weve made the more well be able to realistically visualize making. Probably model-making taxes ones ability to plan ahead in this way more than most other things I can think of, because there are so many variables! You, as the designer, may view the sketch model properly as the closest approximation of something yet to be properly defined, whereas it is difficult for the director to look at it as blurred in the same way you do. The gradient (the slope) is the amount the rake rises compared to its length, so for example a gradient of 1:8 (as its normally written) rises one unit of measurement for every 8 of those units along. Now, compare that to reading a play text with the view to designing it. by cutting the line in the direction straight ahead of you rather than side to side. Pressure comes afterwards, once ones established this line and it shouldnt matter how many passes it takes to cut through. Laying a set-square over the corner is often the way that people check but because set-squares are usually transparent one has to strain the eyes a bit to see this and it may not be sufficiently accurate. The general method is fairly similar. Generally, if ones holding the scalpel normally it will be fine. It may not work for everybody, but I seriously believe from my own experience that if you keep the conscious mind reasonably focused on the practical/immediate, the subconscious mind is left toworkcalmly on the bigger ideas and deliver them when needed. Ive used 1mm Palight foamed Pvc for this construction, using superglue. Almost all glues are meant to be used as sparingly as possible, because bonds between things are always stronger the tighter they can be pressed together, regardless of how thick or gap-filling the glue may seem. Ones focus at this stage should be more on the edge of the ruler than the material to be cut. When we are reading a novel for enjoyment we just need to set the scene for ourselves vaguely, without even being really conscious of it, just to get through the storyand unless the writer refines or directs our vision with a more specific description, that image of ours has to serve. What staircases of this more contemporary type have in common (i.e. The two of these then need to be temporarily secured to something so that they stay upright, parallel, synced etc. That version may have been updated or expanded since. If youre having to press so hard to get through the material that you cant control the straightness of the cut anymore it means one or more of the following:- the material is too tough or thick to be cut with a scalpel and you will have to try with a Stanley knife or failing that a saw; you can turn the sheet over and try cutting in exactly the same place on the other side (when cutting thick materials its the friction on the blade that becomes the problem and starting new from the other side often works); or you need to build up some more strength in your hand and arm through practise.