We begin the week with a visit from Gwenaëlle de Spa, showing her the progress of the work and discussing the degree of precision required between the rendering of a machined part that will coexist with original and handcrafted parts.
We continue the final assembly of the left side structure, prioritizing original parts for the front of the model and using resin-cast parts for the rear.
We begin to provisionally add the roofs to determine the total length of the model (since the roof parts are almost complete, we can thus assess the exact size of the central section).
We continue to make discoveries. The roofs beneath the galleries have small ‘S’-shaped retaining pieces that are glued. However, what if ‘C’-shaped pieces were the correct ones? We have been wondering from the beginning what these numerous ‘C’-shaped pieces could be used for. We observe that these pieces would have the exact correct distance and angle to fit into the rectangular holes of the friezes. Furthermore, an in-depth analysis of the photos we took in Laeken shows us that these are indeed ‘C’-shaped pieces in this location.
During the mysterious life of the model, other hands undoubtedly manipulated these parts, assembling them incorrectly. During his visit, Nicolas Godelet had already shown us parts that, according to him, had been reassembled upside down. The structure of the underside of the roofs with these pieces once again demonstrates the subtlety and intricacy of this work.
Throughout this week, we continued casting the missing parts.
Gwenaëlle de Spa sent us photos of her modeling work. She is making progress on her end but must be careful to maintain a ‘handcrafted’ appearance and avoid a too mechanical rendering.
At the end of the week, we began assembling the right side.
