Monster F - the phantom flutterer

After a long break it was time to make a new monster. After deciding to start documenting the monsters I noticed that the only monsters which remained from the brief period that I numbered them was Nos 1,2,4 and 8. The others were conned out of me, but that is another story. I therefore decided to number this one F(hex). This will be the last numbered monster, and the 9 to E numbers will not be made.

The original inspiration for the monster came from a dragonfly which I saw in the Hartebeespoort area - the Phantom Flutterer. Luckily I had my camera with me. The most striking aspect of the dragonfly is the colour of the wings and the very metallic effect.

The PhantomFlutterer - Rhyothemis semihyalina 

The monster is based on a similar style of construction as I used in the original monsters. Basically a frame with a meshed wire skin and some coverings for texture. The main challenge was trying to achieve wings which would flap in a 'X' shape in both vertical and horizontal planes. In retrospect this shows that I don't always learn from previous mistakes. The flapping mechanism is hinged in both vertical and horizontal planes to achieve this. Problem is that the flapping becomes imprecise because it cannot decide which plane to flap in. End result is okay, but not as originally planned. The previous attempt was with a pair of wings which moved backwards and forwards as well as up and down. Also ended up being a bit wishy washy.

The wheels and wheel support are relatively standard. I went back to the wire wheels with 2 spokes because they are the easiest to drive for the videos. The crank proved to be more difficult than I expected. The initial throw was too great and the resulting movement jammed. To resolve it the crank was cut and shortened (therefore the brazed bits on the axle which are more obvious in the video).

The copper covers were added partly to link to the older models which had various aircraft like bits...including the fake rivet like bumps. The rivets serve an actual purpose by stiffening the structure. The covers are hinged and can be opened to gain access to the moving bits for construction and maintenance purposes.

A new technique that I tried for this monster was to make compound eyes using cylindrical glass beads. These are formed by threading pairs of thin brass wires through the beads in a hexagonal pattern. The wires also help the eyes retain their dome shape. This is helped by a frame under the eyes make them resistant to inadvertent outside pressure prevalent in a domestic environment (or clumsy old monster makers). Overall I think the eyes have a definite compound eye feel about them. What I do not like is the head on nodding neck that I added. The crab claw head was a common feature in almost all of the early monsters. This provides a link to the old monsters, but does distract a little from the overall shape. To get the movement of the head bits, the whole head with compound eyes is hinged at the bottom, with a thin flexible wire mesh at the top to avoid having it look like the head is partially decapitated.  The neck is hinged as well, and moves in relation the big head. All part of trying to achieve complicated movement, in this case at the cost elegance.

The last bit of movement was to add the terminal abdominal appendage, and make it move up and down. Don't know if they do move with real dragonflies, but is does add some additional movement. The only difficult part of the mechanism was tying to achieve relatively positive movement using a really long push-rod to the back of the abdomen.

The wings differ from the older monsters by being covered with silk and not cotton. This provides a much smoother covering than the originals. The colour scheme is made up of layers of brightly coloured dots and  triangles, as used in newer models. The colour scheme was influenced by the original phantom flutterer, but I could not get it to have the same brilliant effect. The painting was done with acrylic hobby paints. The final coat was a clear art varnish applied over the painted area. The overall effect effect is a much brighter colour than before. Will be using the varnish finish again.