Bit quite round here

[Martin Raynsford]

As it's been a little quite on the SHDC group recently I thougt I'd share some of the things I've been working on recently (also just got round to putting stuff online anyhow)

 

Firstly I did some work for an art student, some of you may recall me asking about audio channels at an SHDC meet. The project was a series of counters and some telephones for past present and future, I had to work out how to play the correct audio in the right headset at the right time. Once I broke down the requirement it turned out she only needed 2 audio channels at the same time so we fed left and right direct from a laptop and switched the headphones in as required. 8 Stepper motors created 2 odometer style counters. and then 2 sets of dot matrix display provided 2x10 digit counters. The user dials in a date on the rotary dials for past, present and future. the date is fed via arduino to the laptop, the laptop decides which display shows which value and how fast it should count and then sends that back out to two more arduinos. More details if your not bored already but mostly it's easier to look at the piccies. The last one is the only one of the whole project so far, but I'm assured there are more on the way

 

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/msraynsford/DesignProject?feat=directlink

 

I finished the second paper mache mask for my friends, they worked well but weren't overly practical to wear for an entire weekend so I went back to the drawing board on those. After a quick search I found the proper prosthetic way to make these things was foam and latex based on a face cast. I already had the face cast from a previous project so I bought the clay required. The basic method is to build up the mask shape in clay on top of the face cast, then create a negative in plaster of paris, scoop all the clay back out of the cast and cover the inner surface with a coat of latex. Then mix up some expanding foam chemicals, pour it into the mask and then push the face cast back into the negative. The foam then fills the void space as it expands, leaving you with a mask that looks like the clay shape and fits the face perfectly. Then Trim and paint for a complete mask.

 

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/msraynsford/BugMask?feat=directlink

 

Made use of the freebie projector I scored to mark up a chalk board world map for a game we're about to start playing. 126 countries are displayed on the map, control of which is gained by actual arena combat, in a safe live role play manor of course. The game is called odyssey http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/odyssey and the map photos are found here.

 

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/msraynsford/Odyssey?feat=directlink

 

And we've had 3 successful meetings of Northackton and are currently looking for somewhere better to hold proper making type meets. I've done plenties more too, just need to upload those documents. Hope some people find it interesting anyhow.

Martin