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Thursday, 21 September 2017

This is No. 1

After doing the dragon on a cycle 3D sketches, the next phase involved monsters that could have been derived from aircraft or insects. At this stage I thought it would be a good idea to number them, and this was the first. 

No. 1 approaching?

The numbered monsters have a few characteristics in common. They have wings which flap, are driven by wire wheels, have brazed wire frames and critical moving bits. The wings are covered by cotton cloth and a little painted decoration. The frames are covered with a meshed wire pattern. They all have one or more nodding crab claw "heads", which could be called the pilot(s). I'm not sure though whether it is the pilot or the monsters head. I like the head idea with the flapping structure forming the body. This also works better for the insect derived monsters.

Number 1 is strongly based on a school boys idea of an round engined fighter (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster_F2A_Buffalo) maybe crossed with a Gee Bee Sportster (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gee_Bee_Model_R). Like all real aircraft it  has round engine  (courtesy of Coca Cola).

This monster retains a little of it's origin in the dragon era by having spines along its back and a scaly paint job on the covered tail surfaces. 
Details showing the scaly tail surfaces paint job
The wings have been made with wire ribs, similar to ultralight aircraft construction. Additional details, such as the covering on the side of the aircraft sewn with fine wire, are to create the impression of a cloth covered aircraft. Details around the cockpit include aluminium panels with false rivets, brass chain mail inserts as well as a copper plate on the nose. These are all for effect and serve no mechanical purpose. The black Eisernes Kreuz (derived from the Cross Pattée) was used on German WWI aircraft before 1918 (and the death of the Red Baron), with this one being closer to the one used between 1916 and 1918. The cross is painted on the wings to create the retro-feeling of an aircraft of 100 years ago (only 70 or so years ago when it was made). The coke bottle cowling was painted red in front with an aluminium plate with bumps representing the bolts on the engine. The aircraft ambiance is rounded off with a copper spinner for the two bladed propeller. 


The mechanical parts of the monster were more challenging. Bearings for the wheel axles, cranks and gear shafts are created by bending wire into a circle. The propeller is driven by hand cut copper gears driven from the wheel axle, and turned through 120 degrees with a bent wire universal joint. The wings and head move via couplings to a crank on the wheel axle. Not everything turns smoothly all the time, but this is why it is a sketch and not a mechanical mechanism (which would imply refinement through iterative designs).

Some mechanical details

The following link is to a longer video which is easier to view than using the bloggers video app : Video of No. 1.


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