Hi, All!
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| Bazalgette Light Armoured Perambulatory Contrivance - looking pretty handy... |
Today has seen the
Bazalgette Light Armoured Perambulatory Contraption almost reach its completion.
The canopy is on, the paintwork is finished - and most importantly, she now has a super-intimidating right hand!
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| Head Canopy: Top - Basic exterior hatch, and with detailing. Bottom - Interior details (never to be seen again!) |
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| The canopy in place and painted. |
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| Gunner Theakston relishes the shade of his nice new canopy. |
Needless to say, the hand was the bulk of today's work. Made from styrene 'H' girder, tube, sheet and rod, it took a lot of patience and a certain amount of foul language to complete. Even then, inserting guitar-string conduits without ripping the whole assembly apart was a challenge.
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| Hmmm... Something's missing... |
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| The hand takes shape. this was very fiddly, fragile work. |
But I'm very happy with the result.
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| The finished hand, with conduits. The guitar strings put tension on the joints and almost pulled the whole thing apart a couple of times. |
I've also varnished and based the model now. The varnish had to go on before glassing in the chest and head canopies with acetate sheet (tomorrow's job) as the varnish would otherwise 'smoke' the glass.
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| Closeup of the hand. Intimidating, eh? |
The
Rivet Count on this machine has now reached
505 - and is not likely to climb any further, although you never know...
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| Based and varnished and looking almost done. A good feeling. |
I'm thinking that this will be my last Weapon of Mass Delusion for a little while, so that I can concentrate on terrain for a bit.
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| I Crush Your Head... |
Anyway, I'll be sure to post again as soon as the 'glass' is in place. Watch this space, folks!
All the Best!
Well it is an orange-ish red :P
ReplyDeleteI'm ever so impressed with your patience, fine details, rivet count and yummy coffee :)
Let me know if there are any clever little handy parts you might need, I'm now in a job where all sorts of things come my way and could save bits for you.
I'm leaving this message anonymously but I'm sure you've figured out who this mysterious spy is anyway...
Thanks, Em!
DeleteIt IS red, I tell you! Ths pics were taken under Mr. Tesla's astonishing fluorescent light! (Only 83% accurate for colour-rendering, as any professional lighting consultant who builds little war machines will tell you!)
The coffee machine is on all the time.
Bits - yes! Anything and everything! Especially anything clockwork...
Excellenter and excellenter!
ReplyDeleteI even see you used the pronoun 'she', which answers a previous question of mine. Maybe.
Thank you, Roly.
DeleteHe looks like a she, doesn't it?
His big red bra and bloomer-like knickers do make it look like a she.
DeleteThat is a manly chest, and a heroic codpiece, my learned friend. I have spare contact lenses, should you need them...
DeleteI've gotta learn how to do this. This is beyond cool.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much, Mr. Ramirez. I'm glad you're impressed.
DeleteYou've got me thinking: I did a tutorial piece on Old West buildings some time ago. Maybe I could do something similar for this stuff..? Problem is, much of this is a case of make it up as you go - but I could certainly explain the techniques.
Fantastic work as always!
ReplyDeleteHave you seen Green Stuff Industries Tentacle Makers? They allow the sculptor to create mechanical hoses (or tentacles of course....) to take the place of guitar string. As the medium is some sort of apoxy clay it's MUCH easier to work with in some ways.
In case you'd like a look:
http://greenstuffindustries.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html
I've only used mine a bit, and already love them.
Now that looks seriously handy! Thanks, Varangian - I'll have to see about getting one of those!
DeleteMy pleasure sir!
DeleteExceptionally nice work and very inspirational.
ReplyDeleteMuch appreciated, Elderac! Happy to inspire!
DeleteIt is just simply stunning. The sheer level of invention and the quality of work is nothing short of museum quality!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you think so, Michael. You're too kind!
DeleteProblem is, sometimes these things are a little too delicate for gaming - you have to be prepared for breakages...
Fine work indeed Sir, I am blown away by your skillful efforts on these creations. You have set the bar at a point where most of us mere mortals can only dream of reaching!
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you, Herr Bauermann. Flattery will get you an occasional beer!
DeleteWe need to catch up soon.
I don't know how you manage to work it all out in terms of how the thing would actually work! What with pistons and boilers and steam conduits and chimneys, you must be pretty confident that, in theory at least, it would! And certainly enough rivets to hold it together. So not only a beautiful feat of detailed and intricate model-making but something one can also (almost) believe in!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteOf course, this would never work, but it's a bit like all the techno-babble in Star Trek - the key is to add just enough recognisable elements to suspend disbelief.
If you look at how the major muscle groups in the human body work, they are always arranged in pairs, pulling in opposite directions. So, in this at least, I have provided only half of the required parts. Another important distinction is that muscles can only contract or relax. Steam-driven pistons, on the other hand (no pun intended) can only push or relax.
Not to mention the pitifully small boiler and no visible fuel or means of stoking it. Also, the recoil of such a powerful weapon as a twin Gatling gun would no doubt be a major issue for such a precariously balanced bipedal machine.
And there should be a lot more rivets!
All of the above is (of course) mostly superfluous blah-blah-blah as far as Victorian Science Fiction is concerned. If the machine looks believable and you can see what I intend the various bits and pieces to represent, then my job is done.
Above all, "Is it pretty?" and "Is it cool?" are the guiding considerations. If the answer to both is "YES!" then reality may be merrily kicked in the pants and sent whimpering into a dark corner.
I'm glad you like it!
It's pretty and it's cool, but with all that knowledge, it has substance. (A little like me! :)). Yes: I like it.
Delete