Wax On, Wax Off!

Now the rifles are coming into being.
As you recall, they began as a wooden template, which I carved and sanded with a Dremel, to fit the proper scale.

Then I dipped them in wax and carved and shaped-- putting wax on and taking wax off, subtly refining the rifle stocks through the additive and subtractive process.

my lamp and metal bowl forms a "hot pot" to melt the wax. The heat gun helps keep the wax workable.

I think the color of the wax adds a special touch to the miniatures' stocks, as is quite similar to the original finish of the 1903's stock.

Now it's time to begin putting on the barrels, receivers, etc. to make the rifles complete.

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:

Wired for Sculpture!

Here are some photos of work I have just begun.

I have been working on plans for several 1/4 scale sculptures, of Marines in WWI at Belleau Wood, as well as Marines in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Here is a template I made upon which to form the wire armatures (I got the idea off the internet from a very smart sculptor...):

It's a plywood board, on which I've drawn the human skeletal figure to one-quarter scale (6 ft. man translates to eighteen inches tall here) with brass pegs at key points to give proper proportion and consistency to the arm and leg lengths, etc..

I've also drawn onto a piece of wood the outline of a 1903 Springfield rifle, which I'll carve out for use in the Belleau Wood sculpture (I will do the same for the M16/M4 in the GWOT sculptures):

A little snipping, twisting and looping, and Voila! My armatures! Here are the first two, just hangin' out on the book shelf in the studio:

I'll keep you posted as I add clay and wax to "flesh it out" and put the figures in their proper environments...

End of an Era

As it says on his latest blog post at Fire and Ice, "All good things must end"...

Chief Warrant Officer Michael D. Fay has retired after twenty years of active service, including almost a decade as the Marine Corps' premier combat artist.

He is the reason I re-enlisted three years ago, and he is my combat art mentor and "sensei".

Years from now, you will still see his artwork in the history books -- depicting in color, line and form what it was like over there-- when people study the Global War on Terror.

He is a Warrior Poet and Rennaissance guy-- a rare combination, even in a Marine. (He is also one of those kind of guys that has a sign above his head saying, "in case of war, break glass...").

He will be missed in the studio and on base.

But it's not as though he won't be seen again--I believe that one day in the not too distant future, we may very well see Mr. Fay, War Artist, (Civilian) on his business card, and see photos of some guy in a goatee out on a stool, drawing in the middle of a war zone!

the board in our studio, the day Gunner Fay's finished checking out...

Workin' in the New Year

To all who see these presents...Greetings and Happy New Year!
I've been a busy little beaver lately, working on some graphic illustration projects (images to come upon publication) as well as the normal "fine art" things in the studio.

Here are two little oil sketches I've been working on, and I think they'll be complete shortly. They are based on photos and sketches I did while in Afghanistan, and depict a couple of artillery Marines in India Battery, 3rd Bn 11th Marines at Fire Base Thunder, now known as "Fiddler's Green".

The first one, in process:

The Basic Sketch and color block-in...

More color and detail...

a detail of the face and hands in the curious light made by the camo netting...

The Second painting, in process: the basic sketch and color block-in...

More color, and a little more detail (but not too much in the end, I hope...)

Blasts From The Past

I've been looking through my "catalogue raisonne", and found some of my old sketches I thought I'd post again...

Studies for "A Little Light Reading":

Sketch from the flight out to the USS Wasp:

Sketches from Mojave Viper:

I had a blast doing each of these sketches, and wanted to show them again to all who might have a blast viewing them.

Tea Party

No, not the new kind of tea party... the good ol' fashioned kind!

Enjoying the day off with family, having been invited to a tea party by my eldest daughter...

Good times.

This may also be seen as a hat tip to all of our British brothers in arms on this Veterans Day!

Happy Veterans Day

Happy Veterans Day, to all who have served the United States of America.

And may the blessings of Liberty and Prosperity be upon all who live in this, our fair nation.

A special remembrance also for those who fought in the Great War so long ago, from whence this holiday originated (known then as Armistice Day):

(Some cool combat art from those days-- from Georges Scott and Harvey Dunn):

Happy Birthday, Marine Corps!

Today marks the 234th Birthday of the United States Marine Corps.

Happy Birthday to all Marines, past and present, who've worn the Eagle, Globe and Anchor in service to the United States of America in peace and war.

OohRah and Semper Fidelis!

It's a Lance Corporal's War

Here's an oil painting of a Marine leading his fire team on a patrol near Delaram, Afghanistan back in July.

It's called "the Strategic (Lance) Corporal-- Wagner Places his Team" and shows a certain LCpl Clinton Wagner, a fire team leader for second squad, 3rd Plt, Echo Company, 2nd Bn 3rd Marines, giving direction to his fire team, just after the patrol crossed a river near Delaram.

One might think a fire team leader is supposed to be a Corporal.  But in many a squad out there, "Lance Coolies" are doing an NCO's job-- leading Marines in combat situations. And the success or failure of the Campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan are in their hands, in a direct, tactical sense. Though they don't decide the big picture stategy, they affect people and situations around them, each and every day, in a thousand little decisions.

The "Strategic Corporal" is a term coined ten years ago in a paper by Gen Charles Krulak, and is still relevant today. Yet in today's campaigns, as perhaps ever, Lance Corporals are filling those boots, of making decisions that can have Stategic consequences in the war as a whole.