Well it has been a little while since my last update. There has been a lot going on (my oldest graduated from highschool, my parents were visiting, and then covid swept through the house). and a some progress to share.

First, let me start with the problem I was faced with after getting the cracks filled and putting the wings on. Once the wings were attached I noticed a bit of a problem: the sculpt was off center. By this I mean that the center of gravity for it was well away from the base. It would stand upright unassisted, but it would not take more than a strong breeze to knock it over. So began the quest to find a solution to the problem. After some discussion with other miniature makers I decided to buy a wooden round and glue the base to it so it would keep that center of gravity over the center of the new base.

I outlined the original base on the wood round and drill a series of wood screws all over the disc outside the circle for later. I glued the dragon to the base using E6000 (my dad swears by the stuff and it certainly seems to do the trick). I picked up some airdry clay and molded and spread it about the base, covering the screws and the original pedestal.

And then it was time to wait…and wait…and wait. Man, who knew it would take air dry clay that long to dry? As it dried I noticed something a little distressing.

The Damn Thing Wobbles.

I hoped it would settle out as it finished drying, but it did not. I suspect the moisture in the clay warped the wood circle. I guess I should have primed it first or sealed it in some way. Oh well. Lesson learned.

Now the clay is dry and there is another little challenge. Remember the screws I put in the base? Those were to give the clay something to grip onto (also a potential source of the warping), well that seemed to work, however, when the clay dried you can see where the screws are.

Of all the challenges I’ve had to this point, the screws are the least troublesome. A little creative paint, maybe a little more clay or green stuff, and I can hide them away. I only bring it up here as a learning lesson as this entire step of the process has been.

So where do we stand now? I am checking a few options to deal with the wobble and I have a little more green stuff to use to fill in the gaps where the wings attach to the body. Once that is done we’ll be down for painting, and that will be the subject of the next update,