King Tut's Votive

by Dean Beeman

  For these rails I’m using 1/32 x 1/8 strips, pre-painted white. To hold these in place I have notched 2 scraps of 1/8 square strip, fastened with rubber bands. To force the strips onto the deck I’m using other long scraps. The rails will want to twist as they are bent to a compound curve, so I’m also clamping them amidships using a temporary brace. The brace is held in place with white glue and will be broken away after the rails are in place. You could try to steam and/or press the rails, but the curve of the resulting strips won’t match the deck curve perfectly, so this clamping process is probably inevitable. The process looks like this:

  I’m going to hold the center in place with a ½ x 1/16 x 2 inch scrap and another rubber band. I laid down a bead of white glue 1/8th inch from the edge of the deck under the rails, and forced the rail assembly into that glue bead. Once the rails were in place and clamped I cleaned off the exposed glue with a q-tip.

  While that dries I went back to the throne- it was just a little too plain. I added a tiny black stripe around each spindle, and a 1/32nd red stripe a the base of each arm. These basic colors are found on a number of different thrones in various formats such as checkerboard patterns, and are a minor but needed distraction.

  The steering/sculling platform was primed and given a coat of gold leaf paint.

  Once the rails are in place it’s time for a little (or a lot) of finishing. The bow and stern sections on Khufu’s boat were held in place with lashings that were threaded and bound to battens like the hull planks- the lashings on these battens faced inward and were invisible.

  First, the bow and stern sections on Khufu’s boat were lashed to reinforcing battens inside the hull, and the same threading pattern as the hull planks. The exterior of the planks were shaped to make the presentation more finished, since raw rope would have looked out of place on an otherwise exquisite hull. Tut’s boat, crafted from solids, did not make a point of how these sections were attached, but I will.

  I drilled 2 holes through the bow and stern sections using the ceiling template and drill bit, and like the ceiling, threaded a double set of lashings through the hull. A dot of nail polish holds them in place.

  This last bit of lashing is enough to arouse some curiosity, but there may still a need to show the ceiling, but not right away. So I’m going to conceal it. But take heart- the window that was so much trouble to construct will still be an important part of the model.

  After failing with a number of alternative coverings I went back to the same sheet of plastic that I used on the window. I made a card stock template that fit snugly between the rails (side to side) and barely coved the window (front to back).

  The plastic (or any other clear plastic) will not hold paint by virtue of the fact that its surface is so smooth- even nail polish will scratch off if you touch it. I know this to be true.

  So after cutting out a plastic copy of the paper template I sanded both sides of the plastic cover using 150-grit paper, and sanded all four side with a wand. The platform and the window cover (before painting white) look like this:

  (The surviving scrap from the plastic box cover is in the background.)

  The window cover will take a few coats of paint before it will blend with the deck, and the oar lock holes may need to be tapered outward slightly so the paddles will fit at an appropriate angle.

  Tut’s model was probably bright white when it was sculpted, and bore a set of three stripes on either side- these are clearer in the linked photos.

  To apply these stripes you have a number of choices. Hobby and craft stores carry thin striping tape that can be easily applied. I’ve used it, and it probably looks good on a plastic model, but on a wooden boat it looks like striping tape. They also carry thin, model masking tape- this also works well on plastic surfaces but will dent when pressed into the tiny imperfections inherent to wood. Either one of these options will work fine.

  That probably explains why I don’t use them.

  Instead I laid out short ( 12 inch) strips of the regular masking tape that I had on hand on a sheet of glass and smoothed these to the glass with a fingertip. Using a metal ruler as a fence I cut a number of strips- some 1/16th, others 1/8th and wider- using the knife. These can be peeled off the glass, and since the adhesive is somewhat thicker than the modeling tape, seem to do a better job of gripping the wood.

  You will need a very small brush for the striping, and you’ll probably have to visit an art supply store to find one that works. Before you do that, my advice is to apply the tape that you plan to use to a painted scrap, paint the stripes as best you can with what you have, and then go shopping. Your brush may work out just fine, but if you need to buy a brush you’ll know exactly what brush tip is best for you.

  Here is the starboard side as the taping went along:

  I didn’t tape the deck- the top (blue) stripe flows along the third strake and the deck. The window cover is above the model and to the right.

  Since I always use primary colors, the blue is navy, and the red is fir. After painting the stripes, filling in the ends and putting all the pieces on the workboard, this is where we are:

  At this point the model looks fairly close to what probably went into Tut’s tomb, except for the throne and the eye of Horus at the bow. But it doesn’t look at all like what came out of Tut’s tomb- the white is about 3,000 years too new and bright. So some more finishing is in order.

  Alternative Throne

  The first step is to create an alternative throne. If you chose not to expose the ceiling, or, alternatively, not to cover the window, or even a different way to hide the window, then you may not need a different throne. In any case you know how to mold the seat, which is the hard part, so a new throne is a minor task.

  This time I steamed a ½ x 1/64 strip of plywood in the same bending form that we used on the first throne. I addition to the cat, Tut’s throne was inlayed with a fish scale pattern, so work this into the design I sharpened a scrap of copper tubing and then ground off about 1/32nd from one half of the circular cutting face. This created a semicircular punch, and when rested it on a 1/32nd basswood fence, punched nice fish scales all the way through the plywood. So I softened things with small strips of tape. This is an effective but not particularly elegant setup, and looks like this:

  I cut another bending form from scraps of stirring paddles, sanded it, and glued the fish scales to either side of the form. Once the sides were cut and sanded I glued the seat in place- there was about a 1/64th overlap on each side that I sanded down, and then gave the throne a coat of gold leaf paint.

  Sitting on the model, it now looked like this:

  The scales are not too clear in the photo but they stand out on the model. (In this photo you can see that I’m screwing around with the stand.)

  Removing the window cover for that interested child (or adult), and you get:

  This is pretty much what I was going for when I started the model. Except, of course, for that aging process.

  There are many ways to age white paint. It can be scuffed, dented, stained or even burned. If you study our railroad colleagues, they are past masters at aging railways and scenery- in many cases the older and more beaten-up the better.

  But I’m going to borrow a page from the furniture distressing handbook and age the boat using a series of washes. If you drink coffee or tea you already have one wash at hand- add cream and you have a slightly older and dirtier wash. Stick a brush in your cup, spread it on and wipe it off and you’ve added at least a hundred years to any (flat) bright white.

  I’m going to mix up a nastier brew using brown and yellow acrylic paint- by varying each color and the thickness of the soup, I can really mess up a nice white. (Before jumping into this phase I suggest painting some scraps white and playing with various discolorations that suit your notion of 3 millennia underground.) For starters, this is mine:

  The window cover didn’t stain as well as the rest of the deck, so when it dries I’ll give it another coat or two of bright white an
d try again.

  I think I owe it to the model to at least make the stand base out of red cedar, and there are a couple of hardwood dealers nearby who stock dimension hardwoods, so that’s the final step. When it’s complete the picture will show with the title.

  The Eye of Horus, even though it shows up on American currency and in gift shops, is painted on the sides of Tut’s boat to provide some measure of healing and resurrection, among other things. It was painted on both sides by an ancient artist who completely understood its significance and placement. If you feel comfortable including it on your model, then by all means include it.