Model Progress (week 31)

With all my supplies having thankfully arrived, I have been able to start building the model. The wood panels (I chose Mahogany) have been sent to the workshop to be cut to size, so for now I have just assembled the MDF pieces. I used wood glue and clamps to stick the pieces together, and V Blocks to ensure everything was at the correct angle.

I sculpted the game pieces with Milliput, but then realised that I did not have all of the supplies that I needed to mould and cast them, so I decided to sculpt 4 more of each. Each one being slightly different does make them more historically accurate, but if I had access to the workshop I likely still would have mould and cast them. I would have also cast a few extra of each piece in case some went missing. I am planning on painting them stone grey, and glaze them.

The dice did not initially go as planned either. I had been trying to carve the numbers into the dice, and then paint inside the carved lines to make the numbers stand out, however with the small size of the dice and the softness of the wood the carving looked rough and messy even after sanding, so instead I made stencils using masking tape and painted the numbers on, before sealing them to ensure they wouldn't get chipped or peel off.

I sculpted the jackal head using black sculpey. Unfortunately during baking one ear became lop-sided and had to be removed and re-sculpted and baked on. I then made the mistake of spray painting the head to give it a more satin finish, without priming first, and the head became permanently sticky, so I have chosen to sculpt a second head.

I am hoping to have my mahogany back from the workshop by the end of the week so that I can begin using it to clad the board over the weekend, and then use next week to paint the game pieces, re-make the jackal head, and cut all of the doweling for the top of the board.

I am also writing up a set of illustrated instructions to explain to visitors how the game is played, which I will have laminated in order to make them more durable.