Advice form Paul Spooner

I went to see Mechanical Cabaret genius Paul Spooner while back in Cornwall for some advice on making a moving eye mechanism and a moveable jaw for Pip. 

Paul Spooner's drawings for eye and mouth levers

Mouth

Eye gimbal

I went home and tried to make my own rough ones out of wire, beads and split pins....

....Its fiddley at a small scale and I would have to make a more accurate gimbal- Paul suggested making then his way by cutting the gimbal out of brass on a ban saw but I have seen simpler ones by Pickled Image that is made from a wooden frame and wire and that are more like the drawings above in design.

Just thought I'd see what makes a good eye....
Glass mermaid tears infront of a light....

Set Prototype

Using my rough design from my sketch book, I drew it up in Sketch Up to get a better scale drawing and to visualise what it would like in 3D.

Foam Board

Measuring using my Sketch Up drawing.

Tabs

Doors

Cut cut cut away..

Scoring to fold

SCORE!

Folding...

Cutting foam away to make tabs for 6th side that didn't
fit on the whole board.

tab...

Evostick- my lord and saviour 

Roll away- good tool for a good bond

Main body of the box done (with out doors)

Draw around tho make the base

A few centimetres for fold up tabs

cut out

cut out tabs

Score to fold

Fold and tape temporarily

Check to fit

Doors marked out

Cut out doors except one edge for hinge

And now for the roof....

Mark out the roof triangles- base same width as box faces

Draw out tabs

Cut out..duh

Cut away foam like before to make tabs

I like to tape it down to stop it running off...

Evostick

Checking I got the gaps the right distance apart for the bend.

Et voila!

And next to make that in wood..... Be seeing ya.

Head Maquettes: Pip

I've been making some maquettes as its one thing for me to design in 2D but I find things change when I translate the design into 3D. I'm not sure if this is a problem, if I should be able to exactly replicate a 2D design in 3D, slightly worrying, it is something I'm working on....

Any way enough worrying. I made a mock up of Pip's head out of sculpy, using a polystyrene ball I had lying around as a light weight core. This has made her head shape rounder which I actually preferred. Her face is more like an apple which I want. I used some dried herb stalks for the branches growing from her head. At the moment the maquette is about 8-10cm.

Polystyrene ball core with eye line guide.

Not too sure on the size of her lips at the moment but now that have worked out how to translate my designs into 3D I can make another version.

Drying 'erbs...

I used the second herbs for the maquette as they looked more branch like than the others. I don't know what herbs they are, they were dead when I picked them.