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Setting the Scene...
In the not too distant future earth has been devastated by nuclear
war, but a few scattered communities remain on this our sceptred isle.
Violent mutant gangs hide in woods and dark places, but one scientist
hero, who has taken it upon himself to record new species that have
emerged since the flame deluge rides a contraption previously
undreamed of - the Spacebike!
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The Spacebike is equipped with additional back wheels
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There will be a very bright light at the front of the bike. This
was a quick linkage test - after a problem with my first idea I
changed it to a more workable solution which is carried through to the
metal version.
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At an early stage I began to consider the finish and iconography of
the finished bike. The eyes are somewhat borrowed from a little known
film called "The Bed-Sitting Room" which pretty much
provided a blueprint for most of this project. Inspiring stuff!
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More dirt. These tests mostly used pastels and chalks dissolved in
whitespirit and painted onto heavily wire-brushed items before being
buffed off to various degrees.
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On the back of the scientist-hero's bike there will be a multitude
of strange animals in jars and cages. The first one I completed (which
didn't take long - I planned to do two every Sunday as a bit of
time-out from the main project) was a mutant cat thing.
Done in Chavant.
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Another creature (work in progress here) is a little more unusual.
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An early try with the wings on the metal frame. The wings are two-part
vacforms created over an MDF former. They will
raise and lower powered by a cheap Draper drill motor; which should to
do the job.
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The sculpted creatures are moulded into two-part plaster moulds.
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Latex, coloured using acrylic ink, was painted onto the interior of
the mould and cured in the oven. The finished creatures were then
cleaned up and stuffed with pieces of sponge before being bottled.
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Warning stripes were airbrushed onto the engine sections in
cellulose paint. These were then dirtied down (the same way as the
wings below).
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The wings were sprayed in basic colours before being dirtied down:
first with patches of dirty brown paint, then a coat of dilute iron
paste which was quickly buffed off with a dirty duster.
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Equipment and accessories, including a 1,000,000 candlepower lamp
at the front and a drill motor at the back. The whole bike and and
everything on it was then dirtied even more..
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The finished bike. A very short (and pretty half-hearted film test
of the wing motor in action is available HERE.
The completed bike and the extended
film test is HERE.
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