JC Week 5: Maquette, further design refinement and technique resolution

NB: journal entry for the Jewellery and Small object module at South bank Griffith university (QCA) to view the full journal click here

continued from week 5 : design refinement

"A maquette (French word for scale model, sometimes referred to by the Italian names plastico or modello) is a small scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture. An equivalent term is bozzetto, from the Italian word that means "sketch"."  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maquette, 2015

The maquette was made out of snowden paper ( thicker paper which would be a suitable analogue for thin metals ) to aid in design. The maquette is 1:1 scale:

Length: 119cm

Handle length: 21cm

Handle width: 5.5cm diameter

Handle segments(x3) :  7cm

Pommel : 6cm diameter

Crossguard width: 29cm   

The sword in the image is a Rawlings Nylon Waster, used for training and is an analogue for the Feder sword

Initial measurements were taken from the sword

Design considerations:
The sword will have an armeture running the entire length, for added strength and to allow for experiementation in display ie hanging, laying or freestanding ( with the tip of the blade downward ).
The sword, just as the real thing, can be dismantled. This is achieved by using a threaded armeture.

Maquette construction process

Blade
Handle
Crossguard
Pommel

Materials:

one A1 sheet of snowden paper
one 120cm length of dowel
sissors
utility knife
clear sticky tape
1m ruler
30cm ruler
cutting board



Step 1: Trace around blade onto the paper,making sure that both sides of the blade are included in one piece and allowance for the tapering of the blade ( keeping in mind a blade is not flat and for this project will have an armeture running the length of the blade )
Step 2: Cut the blade shape out of the paper
Step 3: Score the paper where bends will be occuring and bend into shape



Step 4: Trace the cross guard and follow the images below

The drawings based on the sword acted as a template to refine the design over

Only one half of the Crossguard design needed to be drawn, afterwards I transefered the image and  mirrored it to complete both sides. as seen below

Once the crossguard design is completed transfer onto the thick paper using carbon paper and a stylus ( this is a maquette so im not worried about residual linework, it would be better to use a sheet of paper that is convered in charcoal which can be easily erased afterwards. Tho using the carbon paper technique also works on metal surfaces)

Note that the crossguard for my design has three sections, a front and back section (2 top forms) that form the front and back of the cross guard and a separate image for the wings. The intention is to create the front and back of the cross guard out of brass for a golden appearnace and the wings from aluminium for a silvery appearance.

 Step 5: Cut out the cross guard and attach the front and back to the wings, this can be then thread onto the armature

Step 6: The handle is made out of three strips,  10cm x 7cm and are joined togehter with 10cm x 1cm strips. These measurements are made so that when creating the real thing, the metal can be run through the embossing rollers. ( see separate entry for the selection of these images)
Step 7: These strips are rolled into oval shapes, and joined together.

Both the blade and the handle fit inside the cross guard, for the final project a bolt with thread will be located inside the cross guard , the handle will slide into the opening at either end of the cross guard. 

 Step 8: the pommel, for the maquette the pommel is depicted as an empty hole, this is to allow for a clock work device to be fitted ( which has since been sourced ).