Flying Universe Helmet or Steampunk Diving Helmet

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.

New Apartment

My new Apartment!

It's a little cramped, but I think it will work.

Tiny Furniture (Book Shelves)

Basically, I needed some furniture to occupy an office set I was building for an upcoming animation. In the past I haven't spent a lot of time on the furniture (and you can tell) so this time I decided to step it up a bit. I started with some 1/4" plywood and cut out the various pieces I needed.

I wanted to make these shelves "Fancy" so I added a bevel to the front edge of the top and bottom pieces.

I used my my homemade Dremel router table to make the bevel.

Router tables for the Dremel are fairly easy to make and it do a very good job. Here's a shot of the underside.

The bevel is a little grainy but with a little sanding...

I started assembling the pieces one by one.

I added a little wood glue on the edge. When working on something this small, It really helps to blot the glue with a rag before putting the pieces together. This helps to rid the piece of excess glue.

I used 1/4" braid nails to secure the pieces together. The nails a so small that I needed to start them with a pair of needle nose pliers.

I picked up this tiny hammer in the wood craft section at Menards. It works really well on the braid nails.

Using a punch, I inset the nails so they won't be visible.

I filled the tiny holes with wood putty and sanded the whole piece.

To continue with the "Fancy" theme I stained the wood with a dark reddish stain. I got quite a bit on my workbench so I decided to stain that too. Well, maybe decided isn't the right word.

I wanted the final piece to look like it had been used so I only added two coats of polyurethane. This should make it look shinier in some spots than others.

Finally, I drilled a hole in the bottom of the piece to secure it to the floor.

After a little "roughing up" the finished shelf is ready for action.

Flattening the ends of Dowels

I was working in my garage the other day when I ran into trouble. I wanted to make the end of a dowel I had just cut flat with a detail sander, but I could not do it. I kept getting a slight angle, and every time I tried to fix the angle, I would get one the other way. So I stepped back for a minute and came up with this jig.

The holes I drilled are the exact size as the dowels I need sanded.

I pounded the dowel into the jig...

and sanded it down to the face of the jig.

Now the dowel is perfectly flat at the end is sanded smooth.

Wooden Armature - Part 4 - Hands

Hands. I started by bending animation wire into shape.  I thought his hands would be too wide with four fingers, so I am only making three fingers and a thumb for this model.

I twisted the wire to form the fingers and the wrist.

You have to be very careful not to leave tool marks on the fingers. They are very susceptible to breakage being that they are so small.

I added epoxy putty to the palm of the hand to make the whole more solid. At this point it is import that you remember that you are making a left a right hands so you can position the fingers correctly.

I added common self adhesive bandages to flesh out the fingers. I will making gloves to put on the hands so the fingers will be covered in the end. 

I then used my dremel to sand down the dry epoxy putty to a more pleasing shape. You must be very carful not to hit the animation wire or you will need to start over.

Then I wrapped the wrist in heat shrink and attached it to the arm using more epoxy putty.

Now he's starting to look like something.

Up next... Clothes.

Wooden Armature - Part 3 - Feet

Feet. I started by cutting out a basic foot shape from two 1x6x13 of pine glued together. It only took a couple of minutes with my new used scroll saw. I then separated the pieces so I would have two shoes the exact same size.

I drilled a hole on top to stick the animation wire in. I then used a dremel to round of the sides and sanded the shoes smooth with a detail sander.

Then I painted the shoes black.

Next, I drilled a hole in the bottom for a nut. The nut will be used to hold the model in position when animating.

To attach the nut to the bottom of the shoe, I first screwed the nut onto a threaded rod.

Then I filled the holes with epoxy putty and pushed the nut into the bottom of the shoe. I then unscrewed the threaded rod and removed the excess putty.

To attach the shoe to the armature, I started by twisting together five pieces of animation wire. I used epoxy putty to secure the animation wire to the legs of the armature.

I cut the wire down to size and covered the exposed portion with heat shrink.

Finally I filled the holes on the top of the shoes with epoxy putty and attached them to the bottom of the armature.

Up next... Hands.