Getting "A Head" in Automata.

I 've started the finishing work on the head of the main character in my current automata. The head will turn to look in either direction and the eyes will look up and down. I learned how to construct the head by following tips from Philip Lowndes' blog. HIs current site is lowbot.co.uk.  In this case, since it is in character with the subject, I added a hat which allows me to easily access the interior of the head to build the eye movement mechanism. Here is the head and hat as prepared before the onset of shaping. A little robotic looking I must admit.

While surfaces are still square is the time to create the hollow in the top of the head. In this case I used a 1/2" forsner bit to eat out the first cavity.

It is time to rough in the face before enlarging the internal cavity. Here is the first pass of the face. Notice the neck has not been shaped yet.

A second round of drilling has deepened the head cavity and some material has been removed behind the eyes in preparation for the coming installation of the eyeballs. Some material has also been removed from inside the hat (left) to allow more range to the eye movement. The arrow is a mark to show the front of the hat dome for alignment with the brim later.

Here is the head inverted showing the neck boss roughed in.

For this piece I cut the ears rather than carve them. After they are glued in place some careful sanding can help them to appear as part of the block that is the head. These ears are about 18mm or a little over 5/8" long.

Here is the rough look of the character. The hat is just sitting on his head for the photo. I stuck a couple of dowels in the eyes temporarily because a photo with two empty eye holes looks looks a little spooky. I may rotate the hat, as some as kids wear them today, so the eye movement is more visible. The ears are yet to be shaped.

Next job is to build the eyeballs and build internal the mechanism that allows them to move in the head. That's tomorrows job!

Al