The Back Story:
One of my sons is a law enforcement officer in California. In early September, while performing a traffic stop, his vehicle was rear-ended by a big rig. Long story shortened; he received a compression fracture of one of his thoracic vertebrae (upper – middle back, for those not anatomically inclined), the T11 vertebra to be specific. He was put in a back brace for 6 to 8 weeks and told to take it real easy so that things would heal properly and then he could go back to work, full duty. My kid, being basically a ‘Type A’ person, 8 weeks in a brace, unable to do much, was darn-near worse than the injury.
Now, anyone who has been with the military, police, or a ‘first responder’ agency or job can tell you that part of the camaraderie in these professions is that after a buddy gets hurt, be it their fault or not, and you know they are going to recover, you are ‘required’ to mess with them. It’s just the way it is, and many civilians don’t quite understand this. It is part of the toughness and acceptance process that these occupations demand. So, in that light, me being a retired Navy hard hat diver and my son being a cop; I am obligated to screw with him for getting injured on the job; so, I’m building him a ‘shadow box’ to commemorate his accident/injury.
The Box:
I had tried, several times to procure a ‘anatomical model’ of a T11 vertebra through two different firms that deal in such things. In one case, they could not manage to get me in touch with their U.S. distributor so that I could order the item. In the other case, I managed to actually order something that ‘would do’, but it was going to be a month or more before they could get it shipped (so much for having product ‘in stock’!) In both cases, I could not simply order a T11 vertebra model, but would need to purchase a larger item and get a thoracic vertebra from that. There wasn‘t any guarantee that the item even had a T11 as part of the assembly.
I was burning up time that I really couldn’t afford. As anyone whose done something like this knows, timing is everything. If you gift it too soon, it’s just creepy; and if you deliver too late, all the humor is lost. Yes, timing is the key. Now on to Plan B.
Plan B involved checking if someone could make one with a 3D printer. With this in mind, I went immediately to the Shapeways site and indeed found a model of the T11 (thank goodness!). It was offered in 50% scale, in a bright yellow color. So, I contacted the designer and asked if it could be produced at 100%, and I figured that I could paint it white or off-white. He not only said yes, but recommended a different color and material for my intended use. Pleased, I ordered it and was then given an estimated ship date. I was hoping for an earlier date but decided not to push it due to my lack of luck on the previous searches.
My Shapeways order was verified, produced, and shipped a full week before the original shipping date. Yee Haw !!! And thank you Shapeways. So, with the ‘bone’ in hand, I found and purchased a small shadow box (Michaels) and set about to assemble my ‘semi-scratchbuild model’.
The box, length and width-wise, will be about perfect for my ‘build’. Unfortunately, the depth is somewhat lacking since the vertebra, has several ‘processes’, spine-like projections sticking out from it. So, I will need to deepen the interior by adding spacers to the back and extend the back panel out past the rear edge of the box. Additionally, the back panel that comes with the box has some padding of sorts which further minimizes the interior, so that will be replaced with a new panel with fabric glued on it. To alleviate the stark contrast between the black box interior and the white ‘bone’, I will add some color. I’m thinking blue, something in the medium blue shades, a definite ‘cop’ color. As a little add-on, I’ve had a small, engraved plastic ‘placard’ made for the inside; just to spruce it up.
The Build:
Using the inside ‘step’ of the box as a guide, I cut and assembled the rear spacer frame using 5/8”x5/8” hardwood (Lowes) and J-B Weld, two-part epoxy. After sanding et al, a flat ‘chalked’ blue paint was then applied. While that was drying, I chopped off another piece of the 5/8”x5/8” stick for the stand-off support for the vertebra. The stand-off was painted flat black to basically ‘hide’ it. The next piece is the replacement back panel. A trimmed down 8”x6” piece of 3/32” thick hobby plywood took care of that.
My T11 vertebra, or rather, ‘the bone’, was received as expected, in a stark white plastic and resembled a bleached bone. As the finished model was supposed to look like a fresh bone, the piece was cleaned and then painted with a satin almond. Ahhh, much better.
The interior surface of the back panel was covered with a medium blue ‘plastic’ fabric, secured with epoxy adhesive, and then the placard and bone were also attached similarly. The back of the panel will get a small hanger clip and two stand-off pads so if hung on a wall, it will sit right.
With the subassemblies complete, the back part is inserted into the frame and the model project is complete.