Model Planning (week 30)

With a lot of this model being made of wood, I will have to create a detailed and accurate cutting list to send to the workshop, for the staff there to work from, as I still cannot access the workshop. I will be making the bulk of the model with MDF, and then I will be ordering some thin wood panels to cover the MDF with to give the model a nicer finish. The wood panels will require another, accurate cutting list of their own too.

The top of the board will be marked out using wooden doweling, dividing the board into 30 even squares ( 3 rows of 10 squares each). These squares will be 35mm x 35mm, and the dowel separating them will be 5mm. This board will be bigger than a traditional senet board in order to be easier for all visitors to play, regardless of age and motor function.

For the jackal head drawer knob, I plan to sculpt that in black polymer clay, as this will mean that the colour will not fade or chip off with frequent use the way something painted might. I will paint the details in gold paint, and then use a polymer clay satin glaze over this to seal it, and give it a clean, slightly less matte finish.

The pieces will be sculpted in Milliput, which I will create two silicone moulds with. I will be casting the pieces with a plaster and cement coloured repair mortar, to give the pieces a stony, cement like appearance, as real cement would likely crumble and not hold its shape well at such a small scale.

For the dice, I plan to buy blank wooden dice and carve the numbers into them, as I worry that making a properly weighted set of dice may be difficult.

I plan to sculpt the game pieces and jackal head first, and create moulds for the pieces as I already have the necessary materials for that. Making a detailed schedule for a project like this is difficult as it is unclear how long it will take for the wood to be cut in the workshop, but I plan to send off the cutting lists and order all the supplies asap in order to have them all by next week.