Making blog
We set to work finishing the model, using a flocking technique for the grass in the park and lots of bright colours for the paintwork. Seeing it installed in the Lit and Phil was great and it was lovely to see Ivy’s family also enjoying the invention!
When Ivy came to the workshop, we asked a few questions about the animals that might benefit from the invention and Ivy helped us by drawing a few of them - foxes, rabbits and dogs! Ivy also helped by painting some of the model - the bright green grass to go around the edges. We also demonstrated how the laser cutter works to cut out all the shapes for the model and made a sign for Ivy to paint take home! We ended up making a mini version of the sign to go onto a cafe building in the park.
Fellow maker Mark and I collaborated on creating this model and we started by planning out the dimensions and the kind of materials we should use to bring Ivy’s invention idea to life. We thought we could use acrylic for the tunnel to make it look like glass and use plywood for the other things like the buildings and animals. We knew Ivy was going to come to the workshop to visit us so we got started on a few things to show what the model could look like, and got started on the motor mechanism which would make it look like the model cars were going through the tunnel. We needed to connect up a button for this so visitors to the invention could switch it on and off.
I sourced a child size tactical helmet that was designed for airsoft that had suitable rails and places to attach things. In the drawing, the attachments looked like they could be positioned to different angles so to give this functionality, I used adjustable arms that are typically used in photography.
Looking a Liam’s design concept for the Decision Hat, I thought it looked like the sort of helmet a soldier might wear that allows for all sorts of accessories to be attached. This would be a great reuse of a helmet for more peaceful purposes!
I started with making a stable weighted base as I knew I wanted to make the Light Bird tall but especially with cardboard this can lead to a lot of wobble!
I made the base so it looks like a section of pavement by the edge of a road to show where these Light Birds would actually be placed.
I then started on working out the wings and how to model them both up in position and folded down, we’d discussed the usefulness of them being able to this in stormy weather to make them safer. This would also give the option for maintenance of any features that sit on the wings themselves by bring them closer to ground level for the humans fixing them!
I drew some ideas of how I’m going to approach Erem’s design before our scheduled meeting so I could talk her through my approach and make sure I had things right. In her invention drawing I was intrigued by the fainter curved lines that I felt represented the birds wings and had an idea as to how to incorporate these into her design and make them work in reality. I showed her these along with some basic beginnings of shape and texture to check I was going in the right direction before I got started!