Huo Yu sat at the door of the outpost, holding a diving knife in his hand and looking at the suitcase-sized ice cube in front of him.
The process of making ice sculptures was not as smooth as expected. The most important reason was that the tools in Huo Yu's hands were not suitable.
When other ice sculptors make ice sculptures, they often need a series of professional props, including various types of shovels, ice clamps, hand saws, grinders, etc...
Huo Yu only had a diving knife and a multifunctional engineer shovel in his hands. These tools were more than enough for digging snow holes, but not enough for carving ice sculptures.
Carving ice sculptures is not something you can do directly by just taking a piece of ice. It requires a lot of preparation work and steps.
The first step is to choose an ice cube to carve.
The ice cubes used for normal ice sculptures are collected from rivers with wide water surfaces, where the ice layer is thick and the ice cubes are crystal clear without any impurities.
The ice cubes in Huo Yu's hands are all made of sea water, and impurities are inevitable, so he can only try to pick out the purest one.
Generally, the dimensions of carved ice cubes are 30-40 cm wide and 50-60 cm long. Larger ice cubes are more difficult to carry. Of course, the size of the sculpture depends on the size of the sculpture.
Fortunately, Huo Yu can barely control the appearance of the wolf totem tattoo. As long as he gets excited, the wolf totem tattoo will give him enough strength to move heavy ice.
Not to mention, after I retire from the Ice Keepers organization, I will probably be really good at moving bricks on construction sites.
After the ice cubes are picked, the collected ice cubes are further trimmed with a saw to form a standard cuboid with sharp edges and corners.
Then according to the proportions of the sculpture object, which is the small figure, it is divided into small ice cubes of different sizes.
This step should be done with a chainsaw, but Huoyu has a better option, which is a waterjet cutter.
First, a base must be cut with a water jet to maintain balance. The main body of the sculpture can be poured directly with cold water and bonded to the base.
The surface of the base needs to be polished and smoothed to increase the brightness and make it look more crystal clear.
The operations so far are very simple and do not require any technical skills, just being careful.
After the base is made, select the various types of ice cubes that need to be carved, stack them together according to the structure, and pour cold water to bond them.
Before carving, the template of the sculpture has already been formed in Huo Yu's mind. Junior carvers need to draw the drawings to be carved on straw paper, but Huo Yu, who has master-level ice carving skills, does not need it at all.
Xiaotuan can be said to be one of his most familiar images in the world. Huo Yu already knows the little guy's figure, demeanor, expression and other details in his mind, not to mention that he can observe him at any time right in front of him. You can sculpt the small group well without drawing a drawing.
Ice carving is a delicate work, so don't rush. The force must be even and appropriate. First have a rough outline, and then proceed to detailed processing.
"Hey... don't move, don't move, it'll be fine soon."
The little white bear in front of Huo Yu was stunned.
Although his head was itchy, when he saw Huo Yu in front of him who was concentrating on carving, he could only put the little claws that were scratching his head back to their original positions.
The diving knife in Huo Yu's hand flew, and soon an ice sculpture exactly like Xiao Tuan took shape.
Xiaotuan watched with anticipation as the ice cube in Huo Yu's hand gradually changed into his own shape, and his admiration for Huo Yu deepened in his heart.
With the ice splashing, the ice sculpture has turned into a vivid little polar bear. Only the nose, eyes and other details have not yet been carved.
Huo Yu let go of the handle of the diving knife and instead held the blade with three fingers, holding the diving knife like a pen.
Ice sculpture is a technical activity, and it will be easier for those with art skills.
The chess, piano, calligraphy and painting skill package that Huo Yu had drawn in a lottery came into play at this moment. The painting skills in his mind made Huo Yu more effortless when carving ice sculptures, with almost no need to stop.
Without stopping with the diving knife in his hand, in less than twenty minutes, a small ice sculpture of a polar bear was completed.
In fact, there is one last step, which is to use an electric drill to drill holes in the appropriate positions of the ice sculpture, and then place some colored lights inside the ice sculpture.
However, the 249 scientific research station does not have the conditions now, so this step can only be omitted.
The ice sculpture without colored lights loses some of its brilliance, but it also gains some transparency, making it look simpler and with more vivid details.
Huo Yu placed the ice sculpture in front of Xiaotuan and said with a smile: "How does it feel? Does it look good? Does it look like you? Is it more fun than building a snowman like you guys?"
Xiaotuan stared at the ice sculpture with two black bear eyes, completely unable to reply to Huo Yu.
In front of the little guy, a little polar bear made entirely of solid ice appeared, lying on all fours and looking at him with a cute expression.
This ice sculpture is not only beautifully carved, but even the size is a one-to-one replica of Xiaotuan's body shape. Xiaotuan stands next to it like a pair of twin brothers.
Xiaotuan stretched out his bear paw to touch the ice sculpture, but Huo Yu stretched out his hand and pressed the bear's paw.
"You can't touch it yet. Some connecting areas haven't completely frozen yet. It will take more than ten minutes."
"Ouch~ (I got it~)"
The little white bear obediently put down its paw and just squatted in front of the ice sculpture and watched eagerly.
Huo Yu didn't bother Xiaotuan. He chose another ice cube, wrapped it in a cloth and placed it next to the ice sculpture of the little white bear, and ran towards the outpost.
Running into the guard post, Huo Yu picked up the little fish that was napping by the door and said, "Stop sleeping, I'll carve one for you."
The little fish was sleepily held in Huo Yu's hand and ran outside, his cute wolf face full of innocence.
Xiaoyu was dumbfounded until he saw the little white bear ice sculpture that was exactly the same as Xiaotuan.
"Ouch! (I want this too! I want it too!)"
Huo Yu opened the little guy's paws on his trouser legs and said with a smile, "Be good, I'll carve one for you right now."
Putting the little guy on the snow in front of him and assuming a mighty posture, Huo Yu said sternly: "Don't move. If you move, I'll lose my inspiration. I'll carve you into a husky!"
"Ouch~ (This is good, carve me into a husky!)"
Under Huo Yu's deception, the little guy always thought that the most handsome cub in the wolf pack could be called Husky.
Huo Yu grinned and did not expose it, but carefully looked at the wolf cub in front of him.
The little fish lay on the ground solemnly, staring into the distance solemnly, looking a bit like the polar wolf king.
Huo Yu looked at the unfamiliar wolf cub, but he couldn't take the knife off.
The current little guy is too serious and does not fit his usual image at all. The carved ice sculpture will most likely not look like it, but will instead look like his cold wolf king brother.
The more Huo Yu looked at the serious Xiao Yu, the more he felt a sense of disobedience, so he had to step forward and help Xiao Yu pose in person.
The little fish let Huo Yu put it into various poses. After trying more than ten kinds, Huo Yu stopped with satisfaction.
"Well, that's it, don't move."
At this moment, the little fish is lying on his side on the snow, with his left leg on his right leg, and his two front paws crossed in front of his body. The posture of lying on his side looks a bit... enchanting?
