Polar Bear at paynekj

Polar Bear

SFM:uk Group Build 2008 – Polar Bear

Ma.K. Polar Bear

Welcome to my part of the SFM:uk Group Build.

To see full the details of the build go to SFM:uk
but as a quick summary, we’ve all got the same model and we’re all doing it differently.

Step 1: Sunday 3rd Feb 2008

Firstly the box and the parts. I’m going to copy tak5haka’s
idea and use an 8×6 picture frame as a base so that I can pour plaster into it to simulate snow.

Initially I thought I would just have the Polar Bear on it’s own, built pretty much straight out of the box,
but I came across Gerald and I’m considering posing him as being on patrol with the bear.
It’s going to depend on him being the right size.

Step 2:

I’ve had a go at mixing up some plaster and trying to create footprints.

It seems the timing is going to be quite critical to get the plaster
soft enough to take the footprints but not so soft that it just re-flows into the imprints.

Step 3:

I’ve started to make the polar bear – gluing the feet together. I’ve removed the glass from the picture frame and glued the backboard to the frame. I have also filled the holes in the bottom of Gerald’s feet, so that I can “walk” him across the snow leaving his footprints.
I’ve been looking at the other build diaries and I’m starting to think that
adding some extra detailing is a good idea.

Step 4:

Having expressed an potential desire to add details, the suggestion was made that extra traction
would be better, so I came up with the idea of hydraulic crampons.

Hydraulic so that they can be retracted for walking on rock, laminate floors etc.

They are made of steel rod, plastic tube and cable insulation with the pipe-work
in plastic coated tinned copper wire. The pipes wil run into something(?) on the back of the legs.

Step 5:

Today brings more progress on the first foot. I’ve made the pistons for the other side of the foot and plumbed them into a manifold on the back face. From the manifold I will run flexible pipework into the leg section. I couldn’t just run the pipes direct from the pistons as I see them as rigid pipes.

Step 6:

After a few days of inactivity due to illness, I’ve made and fitted the crampons for the other foot. Now I have to do some experiments to see if I can get a chipped paint look. I’ve painted something else with silver paint, then I’ll spray white over the top and scrape it off to reveal the silver underneath.
At least that’s the plan.

Step 7:

I’ve now done a bit to the back pack. I drilled out and filed a hole in the back, then fitted a bit of aluminium car-repair mesh over the hole. I also made some detail to be visible behind the mesh using a piece of sprue and some embossed sheet plastic. I painted this gold, so that it might show up better behind the mesh.

Step 8:

I haven’t done much for a long time, but I’ve now got the legs done. I’ve probably overdone the “battering” a bit.

The whole thing so far. The left arm has had a coat of polished steel, that will be polished before coating with white. Then I scratch off just the white (hopefully) to leave the steel underneath.