Calvin and Hobbs tie clip- progress pictures

Close to done! Calvin’s facial features are now soldered down, and the lines of his shirt were incised with an exacto knife- I wanted that detail represented, but subtle since there’s already a lot going on in a small space. Rather than etching the lines, or creating them with chasing tools I used a sharp blade to carve a shallow, sharp line.

Lots of soldering happened this morning too: the wheels, top bar of the wagon, faces and wagon handle are all soldered in place. For pieces like that which require precise placement of tiny pieces, I like to pre-flow solder on the back sides of pieces, and then sand them nearly flat, leaving just enough solder remaining to join the pieces. 

Once pieces are ready to be soldered, I flux and lightly heat the main plate until it’s done bubbling. At that point, I turn the torch off and assemble the pieces in their correct locations. When I start heating the piece back up with the torch, everything is in place, no need to position solder, and the flux won’t move the tiny pieces around. 

I’m aiming to finish soldering this evening, including the clip. All of the previous finishing work I’ve done means there’s almost none after finishing soldering. I’ll finish the surface with a brass brush, and add a patina with liver if sulpher.