1903 Springfield-- Now in Stock!

I was able to get my hot little hands on a beautiful 1903 Springfield, for use in sculpting the 1/4-scale rifles for the Belleau Wood sculpture I'm now beginning. Gunner Fay owns it and has let me use it.  It's a thing of beauty indeed.

Today, I began crafting the wooden stocks, which I'll finish up with wax and rods for the receiver and barrels:

I also got from Mike an actual WWI helmet, which I'll also model in one-quarter scale:

It's so cool to actually be able to see and feel some of the gear that Marines used in the past. I hope the sculpture itself will come to life because of its connection with the real objects used in its creation.

And I've added to the family of wire armatures, which themselves are starting to come to life on my shelf in the studio: