Progress Report: "the Rifleman"

Here are the latest photos of the Marine Rifleman sculpture-- details are starting to appear, and I am beginning to clean up edges, etc.  I've added the "Camelbak", begun refining the rifle's hand guards and stock, and started "polishing" the boots, so to speak...

 

"Ma Deuce" M2 Crew Update

I worked this weekend on the M2 .50 Cal sculpture (some days I just can't put it down, and I have to take my work home with me). I worked on the belt of mini .50 Cal rounds, spent brass and links, the tripod's latches, and the gun barrel cooling holes...

Here are the latest photos:

 

The rounds are almost passable-- I was able to cast them using the wire from bread twisty-ties, and that allows me to form it how I think it will lay in the finished piece (they are a bit wobbly still, but that will be worked out when I sculpt the links over the wire:

   

I also began the glorious pile o' spent brass & links (bigger and more glorious pile still to come!)...

   

I roughed-in the title, though it's hard to see with the glare in a photo...

 ...and signed it as well, though it's not quite done (had to see how it's going to look): 

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...