I'm writing this with hopeful optimism: After failing (twice!) at creating workable cicada legs for my next design, I have now made a third set of legs... and I think the third time might be the charm! The problem was creating legs that could bend sharply but then also be thick enough to mold well. Thicker metal is much more challenging to bend but molds better, and thinner metal is trickier to mold, but bends well. It's hard to find that sweet spot 🫣
For thicker metal that's harder to bend, you can anneal it. Annealing is the process of heating metal until it softens, which allows it to bend more easily. Another trick you can use to bend thicker metal is to score it on the inside of a bend to remove some of the excess metal. But it's so easy to go too thick when making tiny bug legs! Both my first and second attempts utilized scoring and annealing, but I wound up with legs that were either disproportionately large due to the thicker metal, or too fussy and overwrought. For my third try, I went with hand cutting the legs from one simple, flat piece of sheet metal. I soldered the legs onto the body and folded them into position.
Cicadas have a wonderful confident standing posture that I just love and I really wanted to nail that. Their cousins, leaf hoppers, plant hoppers, and lanternflies, all share this very distinctive way of standing. Here's my girl, all cleaned up and ready for molding:
After she's molded, she'll be ready for her wings! And if you're wondering what those little spikes on her back are for, those are going to be the rivets that I'll be using to affix her wings, which will (hopefully) open and close. Wish me luck! 🤞
Also! In other exciting news, I made it to 6k sales on Etsy this month!!! 🎉