SeaBee Pipe

The protagonist of this sculptural pipe is the emblem of the Seabees (it reads as “C B” in English, which stands for Constuction Battalions). It is the symbol of the military engineers of the United States Navy, a unit founded during the Second World War.

The customer, a proud Seabee, also requested a nice 1950s-style pin-up girl in a sailor’s uniform sitting on the Seabee. This, of course, complicated the work a lot, but at the same time made it more fun and interesting. The main difficulties of this pipe were the presence of two characters in dynamic pose, the study of their interaction and therefore of the volumes and positions, and the minuteness of the work.

To enclose this complex sculpture in an ideal size for a pipe, some elements turned out to be really small for my standards. For example, the lady’s face measures 7 mm from chin to her forehead. The bow on her uniform and the fingers on her hand are perhaps among the smallest things I have ever carved.