Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Documented Screw Ups and Such

Just got word that my troll, Boris the Bolter will get installed downtown Midland this Friday (June 10th) in front of the Commerica Bank downtown location, I guess they sponsored my troll, so many thanks to them.

Looking at my history of posting progress and tutorials I noticed that I leave out the mistakes….the goofs that seem ridiculous in hindsight but nevertheless happened during the construction process.

Even though Boris came together pretty much as planned I did make three major mistakes during the build. 


The mistakes were corrected but they probably added 10 hours of work to the construction time.

Here are the three major flubs made while creating this project.



The first wrench I made was the wrong size.


Yup, the first wrench I built was not only too short but also too thick to fit in the finished hand. My choices were to either rebuild the hand or rebuild the wrench….the wrench was an easier solution. 

Now I have an extra large papier mache wrench sitting in the garage. 




Number two, the head was put on crooked.

Why oh why didn't I see this when I first attached it? 

The answer is that I was probably tired and when I get tired some of the important details go the wayside. 

After my first attempt of attaching the head, reinforcing with cardboard and applying like 10 layers of mache it struck me that the left side of the head was tilted down. 

The tilt was something that no one would ever notice…my wife couldn't see it but it bothered the hell out of me.

My mind conjured a bunch of solutions to make it less noticeable but I knew the real solution was to cut the head off and do it all over again. 

So…..a combination of scroll saw, hand saw and hack saw beheaded Boris and I started all over again. The final verdict is that the head was off about one inch.

 

Finally, the right arm was way too long. 

Again I blame this on being tired but when I built the armature for the arms I went crazy with the right arm.

 After the arms were built and covered with papier mache I realized the right arm was way out of whack compared to the left arm. 

After stomping around at my stupidity I ripped the elongated oddity off the body while it was still wet and corrected the arm issue the next day.



Lots of flubs and derailments…minor disasters but all fixable.

The lesson here is that if you see a mistake then take the time to stop and fix it….nip it in the bud.

If I’ve ever given the impression that I bang out props without a single hitch then I apologize.


I screw up a lot….I just don’t talk about it…..until now.

6 comments:

Mr. Chicken said...

Thanks for sharing. Of course mistakes are very relatable, but it's great to see how you dealt with them.... just more proof that you're a master of your craft.

Chris 'Frog Queen' Davis said...

My friend, if I can call you that, that was my favorite blog post ever. I had to hold my breath through most of it...I was so worried and I thought of disaster at every...mistake. (gasp)

But you did not. You are a great inspiration my dear....a great inspiration.

So glad to see the finished piece...so happy and content...you make it look so easy.

Cheers (and thanks!)

Lyman said...

Thanks for reassuring us, Scott, that the creative process is not error-free! It's fortunate that papier mache is such a forgiving medium.

Tay's Mache said...

The cat is now out of the bag, Scott. Stolloween is NOT perfect! *gasp* :)


Still looks pretty awesome to me though even with screw ups haha.

Ghoulie Girls said...

Well I, for one, am forever scarred by the fact that you make mistakes. The horror!!

Actually I'm relieved to know that I'm not alone in my nit-pickiness. I'm sure none of us would have noticed these "issues" but I so understand wanting things to be as envisioned.

Haunt on oh King of Papier Mache!

Anonymous said...

I read your posts like crack for two reasons - one is for the sheer entertainment/eye candy factor, and two is to learn from you. From an educational standpoint, this is the most useful post that you have ever done. I, as your student, make these type of mistakes on every project I do it seems, and watching how you zig and zag around disaster teaches me to do the same. Thank you SO much for this post, the pedestal I put you on just got a lot higher ;)

As for the spare paper mache wrench? Thats just awesome, I would hang it on a wall in your house! ;)

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