Nautical Research Journal


kindly put me in touch with Dr Peter Petrov, principal research scientist and head of the Thin Film Technology Laboratory. Peter was enthusiastic and interested in a new problem. A test deposition on a spare putto/cupid sculp showed at once that the technique could be spectacularly successful, literally bringing to light every tiny detail of Dovydas’s three-dimensional prints. Peter entrusted the work to Dr Andrei Mihai, the research associate in charge of the deposition equipment, who, with equal enthusiasm and great skill, gold coated my sculpture, which is very different from the objects for which the equipment was designed. Normally, very small objects are attached with double- sided tape to a four-inch diameter disc that rotates at a prescribed speed, upside down in a vacuum chamber. First deposited are molecules of titanium to improve the gold’s adhesion, and then molecules of pure gold are sprayed, in a gaseous form, up at an angle aimed at the rotating target objects. These are well coated, while molecules that miss land on everything else in the chamber. The quantities of metal involved are so minute that the loss of the misses is insignifi cant.


Royal Oak’s sculptures were bulkier, heavier and more likely to cast ‘shadows’ which made it harder for gold molecules to reach the ‘shaded’ areas. The largest sculptures needed tiny belts of tape to secure them and this necessitated a second deposition to cover the tiny orange resin belts left behind, as well as areas affected by ‘shadows’. Fortunately, I had designed as separate parts elements like shields and wyverns’ wings, to facilitate spraying. This helped, but of paramount importance were Andrei’s skill and experience, which overcame every diffi culty.


I am deeply grateful to Dovydas, Peter and Andrei for their enthusiasm and expertise which has brought this


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14 & 15. One of the ladies in Zbrush and fi nished. She will be holding a spear.


venture into miniature carving to such a successful conclusion. And, indeed, I am deeply grateful to Pixologic for their marvelous software.


I imagine some model makers will consider using these technologies, and for them I append a note on the cost. I fi rst bought ZBrush Core, which provides key elements of ZBrush. It soon became clear that I would need the full potential of ZBrush. Pixologic allows a discount for those trading up. ZBrush cost


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