Building Bob VII

The Doctor gave my wife the good news on Saturday. The cast will come off on Thursday. One more week.....

I am looking forward to some shop time and finishing some figures I have and of course finishing Bob.

I had a chance to install his eye control and eyebrow control. As you can see in the picture, the brass rod is in a sleeve which goes all the way through the neck to the post. It is bent at the bottom to accomodate a wooden ball for the control.

At the top, the rod has an "L" shape that goes through the loop. When the ball at the bottom is turned, the L in the rod turns and pushes the loop to the right or the left.

an eye screw is connected to the back of the head where a spring connects from the L to the screw. The spring keeps the eyes at center and causes them to return to center when the control is turned. You might have to put the screw in several times to make sure that the eyes are centered. I never get it on the first try.

The brass tubes that are through the forehead have brass rods that are bent in the front to create an eyebrow and are looped inside the head so a spring can be attached to each loop. I tie a cord through the center of the spring and run it over the top of a brass bar with a sleeve on it.

The cord then goes through the hole at the base of the head to be connected to brass conrtrols.

Inside the head, there is a dowel mounted across the inside of the cheeks. This is used as a stabilizer for the brass sleeve eye control. I tie the brass rod to it securely and then cover it with super glue.

Before i attached the dowel to the inside of the head, I put a bobbin on it. The mouth has two eye screws. One is connected to a spring which keeps the mouth closed(spring is connected to back of inside neck) The other has the control cord for the mouth attached. It runs over the bobbin and through the hole at the base of the neck where it will be attached to brass controls.

I'm waiting for Bob's hair to arrive. When it does, he will be complete.

The slow building of Bob

My wife Darlene has been totally disabled and needs help moving around. The brace goes all the way to the top of her thigh and all the way down to her ankle. I have been with her constantly and haven't had any building time. She's alot more important to me than figure making. She would do the same for me.

Bob contacted me last week and told me his eyes were blue, not brown, so I did a little surgery and changed them out.

I added Bob's head post and put the sleeves in his forehead for his eyebrows. I also added a little more shape to his brow and cheeks. I will install the eyebrows and controls this week and I am still looking for a wig tha best resembles Bob's hair. I have a few that are close but no cigar.

I also had a chance to finish up some conversion figures that were meant to go in my stre at Christmas time. They are there now. I hope everyone has a great week. Darlene has to be re evaluated on Thursday and we will find out if the brace comes off or not. Happy Venting!

Building Bob V

Hope everyone had a happy new year. This has been a tough few weeks for us. Darlene is basically imobile and I spend most of my time taking care of her when I am not at work. I apoligize to Bob and Dan for the length of time it is taking me to finish this project. It seems we have been having one tragedy after another in this family.

I installed Bob's mouth and sealed it in place. I also made his eyes. I used a 1 1/2" dowel and cut it down to the width of the eyes I wanted. I used a 1/4 inch paddle bit to drill the iris placement. I added a little magic sculpt to round out the top and the bottom of the dowel to give the eye a round shape. I painted the dowel white and installed the iris. I painted a black ring around the iris to give the eye more "pop".

I drilled a wire sized hole through the top of the dowel and used a piece of brass wire to go through it. Imade an "S" shape on the top and the bottom of the wires and 1/4 of an inch tail a the end. I drilled a wire sized hole in the back of each dowel and installed the wire which will hold the eye to the linkage.

I made a linkage from a 3 inch long piece of wood cut 1/4 inch thick and 1/2 inch thick.

I drilled a hole on each side about 1/2 inch from the end of each side. I then wrapped some thick wire around the piece of wood and created a loop that will be the guide for the control rod.

I set the eyes in to the head with some magic sculpt above and beloqw the eye and pushed the tail of the brass wire into the magic sculpt at the top and bottom. When it dried, I was able to adjust the eye positioning because of the "S" shape I made in the brass wire at the top and the bottom. I then connected the eyes to the wooden armature.

I added a "finger" to the inside of the mouth and put an eye hook in in which I will connect a spring to later on.

Bob has his first coat of paint. After he dries, I will shade him more and seal him. Then I will install his head post and eyebrows. As always, anything I can help anyone with, feel free to contact me at gepettosworkshop@yahoo.com