#u80c1

When making models, many different materials and processes are used. One really good material to use is foamboard. This material is very good because it is firm and already has a thickness to it. This, however, also means that you are indicating that the set made from this has the scaled thickness of the foamboard. For this reason, foamboard is normally used in rough models; because it is rigid and easy to cut. However, when cutting, if the blade is not upright it can be obvious due to the slant on any side. Also, once cut, the edges are untidy and messy because foamboard is foam sandwiched between two pieces of paper. Another material to use is card. This can be a more accurate material as there is barely thickness to it. This means that the card can be cut and attached together to create 3D objects instead of relying on the thickness of foamboard to make it 3D. However, as it is card, it is a little harder to cut as the density is a lot more, also, as it is thinner, the rigidity is a lot less. Fimo is another material that can be used to create models. This is a clay-type material that can be moulded and manipulated to create different objects that would be difficult to make out of plat planes, like bowls or pots. After the object is made, the fimo is placed in the oven which turns it into a plastic, which allows it to retain its shape and give it more rigidity. Balsa is also a good material for models as it is very light and easy to cut. It is also easy to carve, so that you can put details into the wood. However, this material is therefore not as strong and can easily break. Another material that could be used is wire. This is a good material for making organic stringy objects like vines or branches. It can also be used as a skeleton to apply fimo or any other material too. This, however, can be difficult to manipulate and can be very pricey. The last material we had access to was sheets of plastic. This could be used in the same way as the card, but was a lot harder to cut and work with. Although it was also considerably more expensive, it is a lot more rigid and can be used in my longer thinner lengths than card.

As there are many materials that we had access to, we also had access to a few different glues that could be used for different circumstances.

PVA is the most common glue and is effective for wood, paper and card where the air can get to the glue easily. This is because this glue dries when the air can get to it, making it harden. This glue is also the cheapest glue, but can sometimes not be very strong.

However, Bostick can be applied to the two surfaces, allow to become tacky and then place them together. This means that the glue is dry before the two materials are placed together so that the glue is properly adhered to the materials and the glue easily sticks to other glue. This has a stronger bond as it allows the air to get to it, making sure the glue has a strong bond with the materials. This glue is better than PVA but is also much more expensive.

Other glues like polyweld have a specific use. Polyweld is used to melt two pieces of plastic together creating a bond that is very strong.

Today we continued to work on are cutting skills. We started the day by working in the library to finish of any Tumblr work that we had not completed. After lunch we returned to design and continued to make the models of shapes.

On Thursday I finished making a cube out of foam board and I had started to make a cuboid out of foam board. Alan asked us to move on to use mountain board to make the shape that we were on. In my case I had moved on to make cuboid. I started by making the top of the cuboid which was rectangular. I had to be 2 m by 1 m. I started making the top by drawing a right angle using a set square, this would ensure that all on my sides would have a right angle. I then marked out using a scale ruler the size of the sides. For 1 m I measured to 100 cm and for 2 m I measured to 200 cm. Once I had marked out the 100 cm I extended a vertical line up to 200 cm. I then joined the vertical line to the other extended vertical line. Once I had made the rectangle I then proceeded to cut it out. I found cutting the mountain board easier then cutting out the foam board. This is because their is less thickness to cut through, meaning that if the scalpel blade is not kept directly straight then there is not a massive angle which means it can still be glued to another material. Although I found it easy to use it still took me a number of attempts to cut the rectangle out. I feel this is down to the fact that I did not keep the scalpel blade straight. I also feel that it was because the safety ruler that I used to cut a straight line had no foam on the bottom of it so when I was cutting with it, it kept moving causing me go of the cutting line. However after a number of attempt I finally cut a perfect rectangle which would form the top part of my cuboid. I was about to start cutting out the sides of the cuboid when we finished for the day. 

Strengths 

I feel my cutting skills are getting better as I progress through these model making tasks. 

Weaknesses 

Again I feel that the only weakness I can pick up on again is minor parts when I am cutting for example the fact that I am still holding the blade at an angle. 

Plan of Action 

The main scale we use in the theatre in 1:25, this means that every cm on the model or drawing represents 25cm in real life.

So when I made a 1m x 1m box, in made all of the sides 4cm long as 4cm x 25 = 100cm.

I started by making the top of the box, I drew a 4cm line on a piece of foam-board and then used a set-square to mark out perfect 90° angles, I drew the rest of the sides all 4cm and then double checked the measurements before cutting it out.

To cut out my square I used a safety ruler and a scalpel with a size 10A blade. I placed the edge of the ruler along the line I wanted to cut and pushed the point of the blade gently into the edge of the line. I slowly cut along the line, making sure to keep the knife straight and not tilted to one side (and making sure I sat at about 45° to it as cutting directly towards yourself in a hazard and cutting directly away means you have less control on the scalpel, sitting at 45° means you are cutting towards the area just beside you). After I had cut along the line I ran my scalpel through one more time to make sure I had cut all the way through. I then repeated this on all sides of the square and popped it out.

I repeated this for all of the sides of my box, the only difference being the measurements, the foam-board is 12mm thick so I had to allow for this measuring the sides or the box would have measured bigger than 4cm x 4cm. Two of the sides were 4cm x 3.88cm and the other two were 3.88cm x 3.76cm. the box did not have a bottom.