I had this dream in which the people of a town would take take turns putting on a suit and flying around the universe. The only problem was, when they returned they had grown all sorts of tumors and their bodies would fall apart when the suit was opened. I woke up in the middle and wrote down "Tumor flying universe suit/Animal characteristics chamber" on a piece of paper and went back to sleep. Unfortunately, I do not remember what animal characteristics chamber means but I did remember the suit. It was basically an an old diving suit with way too many attachments. So...
To start, I needed a wooden ball. I really wanted to get started on this project while the memory was still fresh in my mind so I decided to make one myself. I glued together 4 1x4 of pine and cut out a basic ball shape with my band saw. I then used a belt sander to smooth down the edges.
From there, I tapered one side of the ball.
Then, I sketched out where to drill the holes for the various ports and hoses etc.
Drilled the holes...
Base coat...
Metallic paint...
Then I looked a picture of an old diving helmet. I had forgot to make the neck and shoulders. So, I cut a couple of pieces out with my band saw to make the neck/shoulder piece
Two coats of paint with light sanding in between later and it totally started to look like a diving helmet.
The next step was to dent the surface of the wood to make it look like it was hammered. I took a pachinko ball and put it in the round indentation by the wire cutters on a pair of needle nose pliers. I probably should have used a ball peen hammer, but I did not have one.
I pounded, and pounded.
And more pounding.
I wanted the the pieces for the port holes and such to be made of metal so I went shopping. I spent a good hour at the hardware store picking out randoms pieces from every department to put on my helmet.
I glued random pieces together to make the port holes, and filled the other holes with whatever I could find.
Now I just need a suit.
