Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Sculpt by the Numbers

Form your bust kit
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Now you can create your own beautiful and lasting works of art by simply following the instructions with the Sculpt by the Numbers kit. Enclosed with your one foot sphere of soft wood, plaster or soapstone, are the 10 conical drill bits to realize your artistic dreams.

In a honeycomb pattern over the surface of the sphere are imprinted one-inch circles. Each circle has a number, from "1" to "10", and a dot marking its center. Each number corresponds to a drill bit; "1" is a short drill bit while "8" is a long drill bit. All the drill bits are bottom sections of cones with a base equal to each of the circles, one inch, and with a height equal to the sphere's radius. For example to drill a number 1 circle, place the centering point of the number 1 drill bit on the dot of the circle. Ensure that the drill bit's flat front is parallel to the sphere's surface so that you are drilling towards its center. Drill into the sphere until the base of the drill bit is even with the sphere surface. After drilling all the holes, removal of peripheral material, rough sanding and polishing are all that remain.

You can choose from busts of Socrates to Hillary Clinton, from Winston Churchill to the head of the Winged Victory. With practice you can graduate to our master sculptor series using 20 drill bits to recreate Michelangelo's David or Henry Moore abstracts. If you have your own sphere, such as a bowling ball, we can send a sticker with the drill circles. Additionally if you send "police photos", front and profile, of a subject, we can return a sphere or sticker to produce a unique three-dimensional portrait.

FarmerJohn, Sep 04 2002

Form the bust you want by following the numbers! http://www.fsmb.org/members.htm
Addresses, phone numbers and web sites of each state medical licensing board [yamahito, Sep 04 2002, last modified Oct 21 2004]

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       Croissant-by-numbers. Been watching those Crime-Solver shows on Discovery Channel too?
thumbwax, Sep 04 2002
  

       Well, you've got to do some of the work yourself.   

       We'll roll over a sphere from our Carrara quarry in Tuscany.
FarmerJohn, Sep 04 2002
  

       I'm shocked [DrCurry] has not seen this idea and remarked "use a plaster mold" yet.   

       Anyway, *I* like it. A sculpt-by-numbers kit is a way to introduce shy artists to a new realm and offer a hands-on practice for developing their own technique.   

       <sculpts out a nice croissant for [FarmerJohn]>
XSarenkaX, Sep 04 2002
  

       Plaster spheres would be a challenge for me, as surely I'd wreck a steel ball.
reensure, Sep 04 2002
  

       //Form your bust kit//   

       hehe...if only it were that easy to form the bust you want by following the numbers.
XSarenkaX, Sep 04 2002
  

       <-- a present for XSX, although I'm sure she doesn't need it...   

       You'll also need lots of numbers with a $ in front of it..
yamahito, Sep 04 2002
  

       XSX: Actually, given the famous remark by Michelangelo, I was thinking that the nearest thing to sculpting by numbers would be a block of stone (or whatever), with all the parts you need to chip off in a distinct color. Perhaps separate colors for each tool.
DrCurry, Sep 05 2002
  

       A sphere could be a little impractical - get out the number 3 drill, place it on sphere and, hot diggidy, it rolls round so your number 3 drill is now drilling in a number 7 hole. Methinks you would need a flat bottom in order to create the bust you desire.
PeterSilly, Sep 05 2002
  

       DrCurry: I thought of something like that (or layered levels) but figured it would be too expensive to manufacture.   

       PeterSilly: Yes of course. Too many details would have made the already opaque posting impenetrable.
FarmerJohn, Sep 05 2002
  

       //You can choose from busts of Socrates to Hillary Clinton//   

       I know I'm going to be labeled a pig-male-ion for saying this, but I hope this is baked soon, as I am very excited about getting my hands on Hillary's bust.
tharsaile, Sep 05 2002
  

       It occurs to me that tools other than drills would be required. Images of scupltors that spring to mind all have hammers and chisels rather than electric drills. Why not include some powerful acids to dissolve away certain kinds of rocks - see your bust emerge before you.   

       Also, DrC, the problem with colouring the bits you need to chip off is what happens if you go too far - "oh blast, there's some white dust on top of all that blue dust" - the acne'd version of Hillary Clinton awaits.
PeterSilly, Sep 05 2002
  

       PS: Only the same thing as if you paint over the lines in painting-by-numbers. You can't make an artist out of everyone.
DrCurry, Sep 05 2002
  

       What do you propose to do about the stalks formed from the inevitable small spaces in between the circles (which, from what I understand, happens even in a honeycomb pattern; because there is no way to completely fill an Euclidean space with circles)?   

       A minor point, but important. Unless, of course, you LIKE seeing Hilary Clinton with stalks sprouting out of her head. Heh heh heh...
Jem, Feb 19 2003
  

       That's where the artist in you is born - you wing it.
XSarenkaX, Feb 19 2003
  

       That's what I meant by //removal of peripheral material,//. It lets you express your creativity (as XSarenkaX wrote at the same time), especially with //the head of the Winged Victory//.
FarmerJohn, Feb 19 2003
  

       Somehow, despite five read-overs to make sure I wasn't missing something, I missed that part of the idea.   

       <facefaults>   

       arg.
Jem, Feb 19 2003
  
      
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