I've been looking forward to posting about Biggles Cat for ages, but I couldn't do it until after Christmas as he was a Christmas present for my good friend Jo! Biggles Cat was so much fun to make! He stands about 4cm tall, so you can imagine that it got a bit fiddly at times! I started with the body of tan Sculpey III clay, and rolled out a very thin sheet of darker brown clay. From this I cut a small sheet for the jacket, and marked on the clay where this would go. Then I rolled out a very thin strip of white clay which I wrapped round his neck twice, to simulate a silk flying scarf.
(I tried hard to come up with a way of having the flying scarf streaming out behind him, but in the end, a clay scarf would have been too fragile, particularly for a length trip courtesy of Royal Mail.)
Before I put the ends of the scarf on Biggles Cat, I rolled out a thicker strip of paler clay for the fur trim, and then marked it with the lid of a felt tip pen (just the way I create the 'fur' on Santa Cats hats).
Next came the helmet. For this, I cut out two small circles from a sheet of chocolate clay and stacked them on top of each other. I have found that this is the most reliable way of creating a hat or helmet, as the double thickness allows for more realistic shaping.
Once I was satisfied with the shape, I then made up some dinky goggles using small discs of translucent clay tinted with brown clay, and encircled with thin strips of brown clay for the frames. A further thin strip of clay was added for the strap of the goggles, and two hemi-spheres of clay for the headphones (if that's the correct term!) A couple of coats of satin varnish finished him off.
I have to say that Biggles Cat is one of my favourite creations so far - he has an adorable personality, and I know he'll be very happy in his new home!
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