Give 'em "Ma Deuce"!

My latest sculpture project was inspired by a training deployment to "Javelin Thrust" last summer--  I sketched and photographed members of the CAAT Platoon of Weapons Company 3/23, while they were shooting the Browning M2 .50 Cal Machine Gun, affectionately known as "Ma Deuce". They were doing a quick-response drill, wherein they'd dismount the gun, place it on its tripod, feed the thing, and fire while the A-gunner provided spotting advice to more quickly bring rounds onto the target. Then they'd cease fire, disassemble and remount the piece on a Humvee, and displace to another shooting spot... It was exciting to see and hear.

I had done a drawing of the scene some months ago...

I liked the way it looked, and felt it would make an action-filled composition as a sculpture in the round.

 I started the sculpting process by the 3-dimensional equivalent of a sketch-- the maquette.

 Here are some process photos of the maquette of  M2 Crew in action, done to 1/12 of life-size:
Armatures...

 Fleshing 'em out and adding helmets...

 

Adding more bulk to the figures, to finish the "sketch in the round":

From Maquette to Sculpture: 

Here are some in-process photos of the "Ma Deuce" sculpture, done slightly bigger, to 1/6 of life-size (the tripod and parts of the weapon are made of wood to maintain strength)...

The whole piece is a bit rough, but near to finish... All that remains is detail on the figures and the weapon & tripod, etc. (and of course a glorious pile of spent brass and ammo links next to the weapon!)
And as for the.50 Cal rounds, I am working on that--
First off, I used the lathe to fashion a mini .50 Cal round...

  ...from which I'll cast a bunch of wax rounds in this simple mold shown below, and string 'em together ( then I'll really be beltin' it out!)  I'll also cut the tips of a bunch of them and use them for the spent brass pile...

More to Come...