Alan - Sunday, June 20, 2010 - 9:59am

I'm trying to fabricate (18 gauge cold rolled mild steel) a human male figure.

First off I made a wire armature (5 feet tall) out of 3/32 steel rod, copying the dimensions from an art book. However, this didn't give me the "roundness" of a human body. It gave me the depth and the edges because I made the front and back (attached by welded rod spacers) the same. From this I was able to calculate and make the torso, since the front and back are essentially the same. There are no arms and legs yet. Looks sort of like "Vincenzo" de Milo! I've made the chest and back by taking a flat sheet of 18 gauge, cut out the shape, and hammered where necessary to get the pectorals etc. then attached the front to the back. They are joined by metal complex curved metal pieces which were fabricated by a great car body expert who guided me through this part of the process. However, since he was not a sculptor I'm on my own from now on. I was lucky because he was able to teach me the rudiments of banging on metal and ending up with a somewhat recognizable shape. Can't imagine how anyone can possible start shaping metal on their own, although there undoubtedly are many who have. I'm surely not one of them!