The Master Sculpture

The master wood sculpture begins with a well thought out technical design concept for the inspired idea. Consideration of how all sculptural elements work together must first be solved and if necessary, a maquette of the idea constructed. For each aircraft type and model selected, Jeff consults obtained copies of original factory drawings. The artist must beware of the many inaccuracies manifest in the decades of interpretations of famous aircraft designs. Copying the mistakes of others is not a good strategy. Jeff states “studying historical aircraft manufacturing processes, original drawings, manuals and assembly procedures provides me with intricate knowledge of my subject and builds the confidence necessary to begin the process of realizing my original idea”. Referring also to an example of the original aircraft, Jeff will photographs complex forms and shapes from angles impossible to interpret from line drawings. Jeff’s years of wood carving experience visually interpreting complex 3-dimensional shapes, is a valuable skill when sculpting man-made objects such as an airframe and its components. All sculpture elements are then carefully handcrafted in wood and metal. The artist’s challenge is to recreate all of the character and fine detail of the subject aircraft while balancing the visual importance of all other sculptural elements. Later, once the bronze casting process is complete, the original sculpture is reassembled and painted in colour with fine oils or artist acrylics. This piece is then offered as a valuable, one of a kind sculpture.

Airframe components rough cut.		Carved from original factory drawings.		Fine detail rendering.
Completed airframe components.		Burl cloud base carved, FW190A-8 element added.		Sculpture elements completed and ready for casting.

Page 2 - Bronze Reproduction - click to view