"Fearnought" 2010 - New piece....

One more piece for my show at Obsolete --- Click on any images to see it larger.
I wanted to do another piece involving lights, and since I had this great old gauge case, I decided to do a figure operating a searchlight.
I started stripping everything out of the metal case, which I think is made of nickel(?). The tower for the searchlight was made mostly of Erector Set parts with a few odds and ends thrown in. For the top, I chose to use the doll furniture table you see below, (I also have the matching chair - they are both great old hand-made pieces). I cut down the table a bit and added the metal parts with nails.


Here is the tower in progress. I mounted it to a board which was later cut down to size.


The tower with the searchlight in place.


Detail of the light.
I hand-cut all the mirror pieces and glued them to a metal cone I fabricated out of a piece of sheet metal. The support bracket was made out of an old handle of some kind. It took a while to bend into the shape right - it was harder than I expected.


The searchlight completed.


This is one of my favorite details.
I couldn't find a good piece for this area after searching through my collection of junk, twice. So I decided to stop thinking so darn practical. I stumbled upon this lion's head and since it already had 2 holes in it, I decided it would be perfect for the wire egress. It is perfect.


My carving stand as it usually looks while I'm working. It's 51 inches high and it keeps me from bending over to work.


The arms carved and assembled - ready to be painted. I made ball joints at the shoulders to allow for maximum movement.


Arms after painting and aging.


Here I'm working out how the figure relates to the "push bar" that moves the searchlight. (Actually it's the light that moves the figure. Don't tell anyone.)
In the picture the figure is standing on a block. I scrapped this idea and lowered the bar to eliminate the block.


My drawings for the mechanism. I was trying to maximize the sweep of the light, (almost 180 degrees) but also work with the figure, which had it's own limitations. I often use this method to work out the movements.


The mechanical parts complete.The silver bar is the "push bar" that the figure holds on to.


How the mechanism fits together, all wired and ready for the bottom cover.


The figure's head.


A peek at the final piece. I will post better pictures, and movies, once the show opens on Nov. 13th.
Stay tuned.........