Attaching the scroll to the neck of the fiddle
In the previous tutorial I did a rough sculpt of the scroll (top piece) for the fiddle. The next step is to add the scroll to the neck of the fiddle. Once attached I will then begin to work on the details. The process for adding the scroll to the neck of the fiddle is the same process that was used to add the neck to the body. The first step is to lightly coat the baked pieces of clay with Vaseline, then take a tissue and wipe the excess off. Next just add a new thin layer of clay and the scroll should easily attach from there.
If you look at a scroll on a violin or a fiddle you will notice that the center of it curls outward. Initially I rolled the clay, in the previous tutorial, to create this effect but unfortunately the balance was off between the right and left side of the scroll. I decided to shave down the center of my scroll and create a flat surface instead. I’m still going to keep the design on my scroll, I am just going to sculpt it at a later time. I’ve started the center section of my scroll by adding a small ball of clay. From there I will begin to work on the detailing for the scroll.
Now the scroll and the neck of the fiddle are still in the early stages and need a lot of work. However the end is near for the fiddle. The only things left, after the scroll and neck have been completed are to round out the bottom of the fiddle, add the hand to the fiddle and from there attach the fiddle to the Fiddler’s arm. I’m looking forward to moving on from here since I feel I’ve been working on the fiddle forever now :-).
Next lesson – Detailing the Scroll
Previous lesson Sculpting the scroll