SCULPTURE - "Flying Monkey Squadron" pt.2

This project started with a few sketches. I had some general ideas, but knew that I'd play it by ear, depending on what I'd find to "recycle" from various found objects.

I had been cleaning the basement, and ran across an old computer that was hidden away. It was so "ancient", that there was not much use left in it...so I busted it apart and found a bunch of great pieces to make some flying machines with! Here's my "box of giblets"...just odds and ends of various interesting things that I might use to make who knows what.


Below is what I ended up constructing for the basic "aero-pack". The propeller was made from the cooling fan in the old computer. The housing of the motor was an end cap for PVC plastic plumbing pipe. The main body and wings were made from wood. The support wire that connects to the base, and the "handle bars" were made from the heavy gauge metal wire taken from a plastic clothes hanger (the kind with clips for holding pants). I wrapped the handle bars with thin black wire, to give some added detail. I didn't do any work to the grip handles yet, because I was going to add that as part of the hands of the monkey pilot sculpture.


The exhaust pipes and "back padding" were made out of Sculpy modeling clay. I used Super Glue Gel to piece things together and plumber's epoxy putty for sculpting some extra bits. I made some strips from soft foam rubber to look the seams of old boiler plates, and used pin heads for the rivets.


Once I had everything constructed, I coated the whole thing with Elmer's glue that has tiny bits of wood particles in it. I wanted to give a bit of texture to unify the surface of the machine, and to fill in some gaps. I painted the whole thing with a base coat of brown acrylic. From there I built up the colors I wanted with drybrush techniques, going from dark to lighter values. I also applied some very thin washes of black and brown to give it a unified "antique" look.


Here's the final version of the "aero-pack", with the base sculpted to look like swirling clouds.


Next chapter...I'll show the process of sculpting the monkey pilot.
-W

SCULPTURE - "Flying Monkey Squadron" pt.1

These sculptures were done during my Christmas vacation in 2008, and in January of '09. I was going to wait until I finished a third piece in the series (that I'm currently working on) before posting them, but tonight I got a special request from my daughter Jenni's boyfriend, Brad, out in Lake Tahoe, California. Here ya go, Brad!...and say "hello" to your artist friend that you tried to show these to (but couldn't find them on my blog)!

In fact...I started this blog primarily to show these very sculptures...guess I got side-tracked a bit! These are "one of a kind" pieces made from Sculpy, wire, wood, aluminum foil and "found objects"...they are not "resin casts". Actually, I was able to make them the way I wanted, since I didn't have to worry about the molding process. The color scheme I chose for the paint job was meant to feel like old sepia-toned photos from days gone by...a limited palette of tans, browns, grays and black, with metallic bronze and brass accents.


The whole idea came from thinking about the flying monkeys from the "Wizard of Oz". (My wife, Cat, gave me a little sign that says, "I HAVE FLYING MONKEYS and I'm not afraid to use them!") I also love World War I bi-planes, Victorian Era inventions and "steampunk" contraptions. I was also trying to think of how I could combine my enjoyment of sculpting with the fun I had making things for tabletop gaming. Above is the first "Flying Monkey" in the "Squadron" with his "AERO-PACK". The dramatic sky photo in the posters was taken by my wife.



Next is my "SILVERBACK with a JET-PACK"! I was definitely inspired by the 1991 Disney movie "The Rocketeer". I liked the idea of a big honkin' gorilla with an undersized rocket booster strapped on.

As I said, I'm currently sculpting one more monkey with a different flying machine, but that'll have to wait for a while before I show it. I'll be posting again soon, to give a more in-depth look at how I made these. Until then...happy flying!
-W

TABLETOP GAMING - "More Rocketships"

Soon after I made the other "Retro Rocketships" posted yesterday, my friend Jaye was planning to host a new "Flash Gordon-like" Sci-Fi themed game in his basement. (He has an awesome space at his house just filled with the coolest gaming props he's made and collected for years!!) I asked if he needed anything specific, and he requested something like a "Ming the Merciless" ship from the campy "Flash Gordon" movie from 1980. I wasn't trying to copy that design, but there were some definite things that I was inspired by. As usual, I went "dumpster diving" and found some fun things to start building with. To show scale, there's a little figure on the wing of the ship below that is about 1" tall.


Before I show you the early, pre-painted stages, below is what the ships look like after the "primer" base coat. I generally use acrylic paints.


Now you can see the "found object" parts that I used to make this ship. There are a couple of different plastic pop bottles...some plastic writing pen shafts, and magic marker caps. For the doors and windows, and the trim on the tail piece, I used soft foam rubber with a peel-and-stick backing (found at most hobby shops). The nose piece is a wooden ball with a tapered dowel peg glued on. The wings and tail fin I made from wood.


I thought it would be fun to make a little one-passenger "air sled"...I found a nice wedge-shaped medicine bottle for the main fuselage and engine. The thrusters are cut-up plastic pens.

That's it for now.
-W