Tap

        The tap has proved problematic. Modelled from the same Fimo clay which I used for the knives, knife rack and stun gun, the tap was the most troublesome piece. Due to the scale of the set and puppets, the tap needed to be relatively tall, but also thin and delicate, while some details like the tap heads were very, very small. It was a struggle for me to overcome my perfectionism, and be satisfied. After all, the tap would not be seen in extreme close ups, so there was no need for it to have photo realistic levels of detail.

        Being tall and thin, it was necessary to bake the tap in several pieces, as the hoses and pipes would not be capable of supporting their own weight. As the pieces would need glueing together, the joints would inevitably prove to be weaknesses. However, the finished and painted taps came out very well. Fortunately, there was not too much of a discrepancy between the size of the tap and the sink, as I had to model the tap at home with the sink at college. In retrospect I should have modelled the tap before attaching the sink to the set. Yet there is a slightly off kilter feel to the proportions of our set (very tall and narrow, with lots of empty space), so a slightly oversized tap would not, I feel, have been too out of place.

        The real problems with the tap began once it was in place on the set. Fiona had recognised that the walls would need supports to prevent them falling over, so had attached feet to the back of each of the three walls. However, the tables we had arranged our set on was not really big enough to support these feet. Besides, due to the grout that Fiona had used to tile the walls, they all bowed inwards, meaning that if anything they were likely to fall inwards towards the set (they should have been clamped flat when wet to prevent this, we later learned). 

Supportive feet on on of the wall pieces.

The floor piece, clamped to prevent warping as it dries.

        Unfortunately, this is exactly what began happening as we removed walls to get better access to the set, and on one occasion the sink was knocked off the wall, and the tap snapped. The sink was easily put back on the wall, and the majority of the tap reattached. However, the hose attachment needed repainting, so I left it to dry in the studio over night. By the morning it had sadly been moved, and could not be found, so I had to model a new piece.

        From this incident I have learned not to take for granted that the studio is a safe place to leave my work. In future it needs to be placed in a safe place, or ideally taken home or put in a locker. Fiona also managed to secure some sandbags to further weight down the feet on the walls and prevent them toppling oven and damaging any other props. Fortunately the pigs are made of foam, so they just sprang back into shape.

The tap and sink, prior to the accident.