Icarus Dragon Scout
Almost Done
I'm done with the welding portion of this piece. I was very careful with the placement of the flame and didn't damage any of the epoxy joints. Since then I've been doing the rather tedious job of filling in the leather (metal) of the wings. This is one of those processes that had me wondering from the beginning if I would be able to pull it off. The trick is getting these little pieces to stay in place so I came up with the idea of using magnets which worked very nicely. I'm particularly pleased with the patina I've been able to coax out of the rusty sheet metal stock I've used.
I completed the interior cockpit during the past week and I've been continually working on the landing gear (very tricky, as I mentioned earlier, very tricky indeed). I'm nearing completion which is always a fun stage in a project and also a wee bit sad because I've enjoyed this one a lot.
Over the next couple of days I'll be cleaning up all my welds (metal and epoxy) and securing the landing gear. when this assembly is attached to the craft, I'll be finished.
Moving Right Along
I'm really liking this project. I've noticed over the years that while my hands are busy I'll be thinking about the subject I'm working on, whether it's some weapon or person or instrument, etc. This little scout has me thinking about building balsa wood stuff when I was a kid, the music of Yes, dragons, flying machines and even Stuka dive bombers (it kinda looks like one).
It has a lot of different components, which is something that is typical of a lot of my pieces and also something that I like. While I've been concentrating on the welding of the fuselage and wings, I've been fiddling away at the landing gear (quite tricky) and thinking ahead about the cockpit. I've also built a simple pedestal to mount this machine on for display as any sort of hanging system would be distracting.
A small dilemma: I use an oxygen/acetylene torch with nickel brazing rods which generates a lot of heat so with most pieces I've got to get the welding done before I get too carried away with the delicate little bits that are joined with epoxy resin. But this one is particularly complex in that I've had to do some epoxy stuff on the fuselage which may require me to keep bits of it cool somehow whilst trying to do the last few welds.
I'm thinking the name I gave it is going to make sense (if you believe in dragons). Check it out: this vehicle is an un-armed scout which can keep up with any dragon and even out run some of the older ones. It's strength, and what keeps it's pilot safe, is it's unbelievable maneuverability. It's weakness, and henceforth it's rating as an Icarus class of scout, is it's limited altitude and it's vulnerability when following a dragon too close to water.
Design, material selection, etc.
Now that I've made up my mind on a concept for the next piece I can get start figuring out the design, materials to be used and the procedures that will be required. The first thing that needs to be established is the correct size of the final product. This kind of goes hand in hand with selecting materials because not only is one looking for stuff that will look right, it also has to be workable. Seeing as how I like doing smaller figures this can be important.
Mother Nature does all sorts of neat things to metals when they've been exposed for a while. Roughly 95% of the stuff I use is what you would call "reclaimed". I like how pitted and rusty old iron looks like after it's been cleaned or buffed or beat with a hammer or heated or whatever. I also use store bought stuff for some smaller dimension rods and bar stock. With a bit of work this can also be made to look good.
Once I've snooped out the metal that I think will work and I get my sizing done, I'll draw out the project so I've got something to follow.
At this point I usually just get started. In construction there's a process called "design build" that basically means to go along by the seat of your pants confident in the knowledge that you can figure out all the un-for-seen problems that will likely arise. This is also about the time that I start thinking of what to name the upcoming piece.
I think I'm going to call this latest one: ICARUS DRAGON SCOUT
Developing a Concept
I sometimes find myself finishing a piece and cleaning up the shop with no idea of what's next. I usually get caught up on yard stuff or anything else that needs doing until something happens that inspires me to start another project. As I write this I am just emerging from about a 6 day period with nothing going on in the shop. I've been thinking of doing a sculpture of a squad of soldiers marching with a little girl handing them a flower but I obviously don't want to do it enough coz I haven't started it yet. I don't have any commissioned work to do so I've been waiting.
Last night I popped in on my brother Richard for a visit. We usually hang out and talk music and slap on an album or two from the old days. I was holding a Yes album in my hands when I glanced down at a tiny drawing by the cover artist Roger Dean of a whimsical and bizarre flying machine. I instantly new that this was my next thing. It's got a music connection and it fits the science fiction / fantasy bill nicely. It'll be like nothing I've done yet and I have no idea how I'm going to make it, which is what I like the most about doing this stuff.
Tomorrow I will begin selecting the materials and processes to use to put this together. I'm happy now. I've got an art piece to make.
Steely Man Sets Up Shop
Hello again.
Today I'm going to talk about how I set up my studio.
in 2014 I was able to convince my wife that parking her SUV in the garage during the winter created an incredible mess and that the facility would be better used if it was a workshop / studio. My wife agreed and she is indeed awesome.
I bought a small unit heater which was easy enough to install as I had fortunately gotten gas, power & thermostat wiring roughed in during a reno a few years earlier. I built an 8 ft long workbench with a metal surface and large drawers beneath to handle my home's recycling, garbage and empty bottles as well as my hand held power tools. I arranged to have conduits surface mounted to provide power to the various work stations and the drill press / grinder area. I bought a mig welder and oxy/acetylene torch assembly c/w bottles to add a little heat to things. I organized a lifetime's worth of nuts, bolts, washers and screws into a 10 drawer cabinet that used to be in an opticians office. Canadian Tire had a humongous drawer cabinet on sale which now handles my hand tools, drill bits and other odds and sods. Basically, the place looks like it's got it's shit together.
I built a sturdy work table under the window looking out into my backyard which serves as a great spot for design as well as hanging out with visitors. I set up a set of steel shelves which can handle all sorts of weight to house a selection of materials for projects, a rack on a wall for the long stuff and a corner for small sheet metal scraps (An area in the backyard serves as storage for the bigger iron bits). Lastly, I installed a shelf above my workbench where I display old tools that my Grandfather once used, some of which get put to work to this day.
Next blog: Now what?
Steely Man's Process
Well, I guess I'm a blogger.
On this blog site I'm going to provide some information for the curious as to how a metal sculpture comes to be.
The first step is having a selection of re-claimed materials handy. Several years ago I was in possession of a piece of rural property just outside of Edmonton that had old farm equipment scattered about. At the time, I only had an idea that I would set up a studio one day, but I couldn't help taking a mental inventory of some really cool looking stuff. Before I disposed of the property, I scrounged every promising tidbit I could find. There was a Harvester there (I think that's what they're called) which provided a lot of funky gears and chains for my very first piece: the little French WW1 tank. The fellow next door was a friendly farmer who pointed out a junk pile out in the middle of his huge field of wheat (barley? oats?) and said I was welcome to any of it that I wanted. I pulled all sorts of great rusted sheet metal from this site which I am constantly incorporating into my pieces. I still have access to his property so I'm confident that I have enough raw material to keep my studio going for a few years. My mechanic is also a good source for gears, ball bearings, pistons, etc.
Next blog: setting up shop.