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Posts Tagged ‘Plastic’

The gondola

24 Feb

I’ve made quite a few gondolas that were the typical boat style, but I wanted to do something different for this steampunk diarama. I thought that making something that looked like a tube or bubble would be cool, so I started rummaging through my boxes of pieces and parts to find an object that would be suitable to repurpose. What I came up with was two plastic scoops that came out of a powdered drink mix or something, (I collect anything that’s interesting!). Shown here, I’ve already painted the handles and attached a plastic piece with a spiral as a “bowsprit”.

Plastic scoops as gondola

Plastic scoops as gondola

Here’s a close up of the bowsprit and the front of the gondola.

Bowsprit closeup

Bowsprit closeup

I glued the two scoops to a plastic disc for some visual interest, then added a flat plastic piece in between the handles, (not pictured), then I created a rudder fin to go on the stern of the gondola. I used the same technique as I did for the stabilizer fins.

Rudder fin

Rudder fin

The final gondola was then given an antiquing of patina color where appropriate (brass and copper areas), and attached to the airship body. This attachment required a careful snipping of the paper airship skin so the handles of the scoops could be inserted and glued.

Finished gondola

Finished gondola

Here’s a closeup of the attachment.

Closeup of gondola

Closeup of gondola

Next post, I’ll show how I prepared the “box” part of the diarama. That is certainly an example of recycle, reuse and repurpose! Thank you for your continued interest in my work…

How would you have built the gondola?

 

 

 

 
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Posted in Recycled and Re-purposed, Sculpture, Steampunk

 

The airship propeller

31 Jan

Last time I finished putting the propeller support scaffolding on the steampunk airship that is to be part of my diarama. Now I’ll start the propeller itself.

I can’t emphasize enough that you don’t need to buy much in order to create amazing art. Just look around you…I save plastic jar lids, pen barrels, scrap paper and fiberboard, plastic closures, fixtures, hangars, fasteners…everything. I’m a hoarder only in the sense that what I save looks like junk, but it all has artistic value when you realize it can be repurposed, reused, recycled and otherwise transformed into cool things of beauty!

To start the propeller, I found a piece of medical equipment my brother gave me. It’s an inline tube filter (new of course) that’s used in a suction device for surgery, but it looks very “hub-like”. I simple glued flat toothpicks at regular intervals around the perimeter of the “hub” and let them dry.

Propeller hub

Propeller hub

Flip side

Flip side

Once dry, I spray painted the piece an antiqued copper color and then gave it a patina of green “rust”. For the propeller blades, I cut triangles of a white scrap printing paper I had, gently curled one point for pitch and glued the edge to the toothpicks. I used some plastic pieces to stilt the blades while the glue dried.

Blades added

Blades added

Here’s the finished propeller…

Finished propeller

Finished propeller

And now we slide the propeller onto the end of the airship. I used a skinny plastic straw as the shaft and I split it and frayed the end so that by holding it together, I was able to slide the propeller onto it, and once the frayed end was inside the hub, it spread out enough to lightly hold the propeller on without glue. This way, I can manually spin it!

Propeller in place and spinnable!

Propeller in place and spinnable!

Next post, I’ll build the stabilizer fins, so stay tuned… :)

 

 

 

 
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Posted in Papier-mâché, Recycled and Re-purposed, Sculpture, Steampunk

 

Airship nose and propeller shaft

24 Jan

I need to put a nose and tail cone on the diarama airship, so I used the same technique I use for my airship kits, which is to sart with a cut circle of card stock (I use old file folders). I then punch a hole in the center with a standard paper punch and with scissors, I cut about a quarter of the circle away. This then gets formed into a funnel shape, then glued with white glue. To make the nose spire, I used a painted wooden golf tee and pushed that through the nose cone, then attached it. The tail cone was made in the same way, but required a different structure beyond that because the tail also holds the scaffolding for the propeller.

Nose and tail cones in place

Nose and tail cones in place

Next, I constructed the scaffolding for the propeller by cutting strips of cereal box cardboard, then gluing them into the appropriate shape. (Can you tell that I never throw away anything that might have an artistic use?!). When dry, they were sprayed with copper paint and antiqued with green acrylic paint, (seen in next photo).

Propeller scaffolding

Propeller scaffolding

A piece of repurposed plastic tube that used to be the guts of a click-type ball point pen serves as the propeller shaft when painted and attached to the tail cone of the airship. The scaffolding is then attached to the shaft and the sides of the airship body. White glue works fine for most pieces.

Scaffolding attached to the airship

Scaffolding attached to the airship

Next time, I’ll show how to build a cool propeller for the zeppelin out of simple repurposed objects. Reusing and recycling can be easy and fun. Try some of these techniques to start a project with your kids. It’s a great way to find common ground with a teenager!

 

 

 
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Posted in Papier-mâché, Recycled and Re-purposed, Sculpture, Steampunk

 

Airship Anastasia!

17 Nov

Usually I build a larger airship. At least larger in the sculpture sense…something in the neighborhood of 5 feet long, or so. In a room that is larger or when placed in a dedicated display area, they’re fantastic and formidable. In a small area though, they can be a bit tight.

This project, therefore, is much smaller. At about two and a half feet long, the Anastasia is about half the size of the Diabolus and the OTBP airship at Off the Beaten Path in Farmington, Michigan. Those of you who have seen one or both of those airships will be able to visualize the size better. At this size, Anastasia would be at home in even a very small house, apartment or office, (are you picturing a steampunk themed office? Very cool indeed!).

The Airship Anastasia

Anastasia from the starboard

The style is once again, more Victorian whimsey than copper and brass dreadnaught, but the Anastasia is not without her defenses. Small and nimble, the Anastasia would turn more quickly than most larger ships, allowing the bow-mounted plasma generator to take care of frontal and flanking assaults, while a crew member tail gunner moves to defend against attacks from the stern with an aether disruptor cannon.

Anastasia gondola close-up

Propulsion close-up

Next up is another larger airship; similar in style, but a bit heavier in the speed department and bit more armed to match. Watch for it!

I’d also love for you to subscribe to the blog if you haven’t already, and while you’re at it, please wander over to my Facebook Page here and give it a “like”. Thanks!

 
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Posted in Papier-mâché, Recycled and Re-purposed, Sculpture, Steampunk

 

From scrap to steampunk sunglasses

14 Sep

Even though my mainline is steampunk zeppelin airships, one of my latest projects has been to fashion a pair of steampunk sunglasses. Now I know that goggles are a steampunk icon, but I’m a bit of a sunglasses collector, having accumulated about 125 pair over the years. I have new wave and punk rock styles, Buddy Hollys, Venetian blind shades, owls, John Lennons, grannies, hippies and all sorts of themed varieties. What I didn’t have were any that were of a steampunk nature, so I put on my thinking cap and designed a pair. Of course, I had to stay with my mantra of “recycle, re-use and re-purpose”, so I built my sunglasses using materials that would have been junk otherwise. With a little painted patina and antiquing, some suede scraps and a lot of plastic pieces and parts, I was able to fashion a pair of wearable, however somewhat impractical, wild and crazy steampunk fashion sunglasses.

Steampunk sunglasses

Lens detail

Right temple detail

Left temple detail

Lens detail

Most of the pieces are re-purposed plastic pen barrels, odds and ends of metal, brass screws, scraps of suede and toy parts. The lenses are actually welding goggle lenses that have been inserted into vitamin bottle lids.

I’d love to hear your comments! How would you have made these?

 

 

 

 
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Posted in Recycled and Re-purposed, Sculpture, Steampunk

 

Turret interior

19 Jul

Last post, I showed you how I made the observation turret on the airship Diabolus. Now I’ll show you the interior.

I wanted to give the turret enough interior detail that if someone looked inside, there would be something that made sense, not just darkness or the side of the airship underneath. I had some pieces of scrap plastic that looked like the caps off spray paint cans and as luck would have it, their diameters matched the diameter of the plastic caps that I made the turret “windows” out of. I then found a couple of photos of submarine interiors and Photoshopped them together, then printed the pieces and applied them to the inside of the painted caps. Below I show a cheap Army man I cleaned up and then detailed.

Inexpensive army man

Detailed and placed within the painted cap.

Detailed crewman

And now with the turret “glass” in place…

Turret glass in place

A different view shows the detail a little better.

Different angle

The next step is to add the turrets to the sides of steampunk zeppelin, Diabolus. Do you have ideas for how windows could be added?

 
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Posted in Papier-mâché, Recycled and Re-purposed, Sculpture, Steampunk

 

Turret construction

09 Jul

Today, I’m going to show you how I put together the observation turrets that are on the sides of the Diabolus. Believe it or not, I used repurposed pieces for these as well ;)   Really, you say? I don’t believe it!   Well, it’s true…read on to see more!

I started with the bottom of one of those 50 cent gumball machine toy bubbles as shown below…

Gumball toy bubble

In order to make it look like a paneled turret, I need something that not only looks like metal, specifically brass or copper, but also is thin and flexible. I could use thin sheet craft copper, but remember that I like to reuse materials or repurpose things. What I do is to paint tape, then cut it into strips. You’ll also notice that I added “rivets” and patina before peeling up the strips to apply to the bubble.

Painted tape cut into strips

Next, of course, I add the strips to the bubble in a fashion that is reminiscent of the gun turrets on a WWII bomber, or the bridge of the Millennium Falcon, whichever you prefer!

Finished turret

So this is how the finished turret looks. In order to add it to the side of the Diabolus, I need to build a “background”, and I’ll show you how next post!

 
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Posted in Papier-mâché, Recycled and Re-purposed, Sculpture, Steampunk

 

Continuing the Diabolus

04 Jul

Today I’m back to showing the progress of the Diabolus. You’ve all seen the finished product, as I displayed it at the World Steam Expo back at the end of May. I want to finish the progression so you see how it was constructed.

I left off at showing you the fin support construction. I’ll now show you the fin hub which ties all the fins together aft of the propeller. This hub starts with a couple of simple repurposed plastic pieces; in this case, a couple peanut butter jar lids.

Peanut butter jar lids

Followed by a spray paint can lid and a laundry detergent cap…

Lids and caps

Then put together…

Lids and caps assembled

And then painted bronze and patina painted…

Painted fin hub

Finally, put in place and trimmed with stabilizers.

Fin hub with stabilizers

So, once again, finished piece looking nothing like the original repurposed pieces! Next I’ll show how I constructed the observation turrets.

Would you be interested in seeing examples of how to choose items to repurpose?

 
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Posted in Papier-mâché, Recycled and Re-purposed, Sculpture, Steampunk

 

Fin attachment

14 May

Now that the fin struts are attached, I add the fins. This is a HUGE step since I have so many places where the fins have to line up, plus drilling out the fins to accept the strut pin, gluing, etc. The effect, however, is quite dramatic!

Fin mounting close-up

There are three places where the fin mounts to the papier mache airship body, then two places aft.

Whole body view of fin attachment

You’ll notice that at first, the aft positions of attachment have a gap to be filled, but you’ll see the reason as we go on.

Aft view of fin construction

Next time, I’ll show you the construction of the aft fin struts and the tail hub. Again, the pieces are recycled/reused/repurposed items of plastic, wood and cardboard, painted with patina antiquing to look like aged brass. We’re in the homestretch of this cool airship now, so stay tuned for more!

 
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Posted in Papier-mâché, Recycled and Re-purposed, Sculpture, Steampunk, Uncategorized

 

Adding the fin struts

09 May

OK, so I took a brief hiatus from posting the progress of the steampunk airship I’m working on to post a couple other items of interest. Now I’m back on the schedule and today’s installment is putting the fin struts on the airship body. These are the structures that will support the fins and provide some profile interest to the piece. The struts are made of repurposed materials, as you knew they would be…in this case, scotch tape cores and vitamin bottle lids! I had to cut the cores to match the contour of the zeppelin body ridges, paint them, then push a drilled out and painted vitamin bottle lid into the top of them.

Repurposed pieces for fin strut

Repurposed plastic...stuff you'd usually toss!

By themselves, the pieces of reused plastic don’t look like much, but add some brass color paint and put a green patina on them and they start to look like…well, something. Then add them to the construction of the airship and they start to make a bit more sense.

Lid pressed into core

When these pieces are added to the body of the airship, you can see how they will lift the fin away from the body of the airship and give it a dynamic look.

Fin strut attached to airship body

Three of these struts attached as shown will hold each of the airship fins.

Three fin struts attached in a row

Next we start attaching the fins! Don’t touch that dial!

 
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Posted in Recycled and Re-purposed, Sculpture, Steampunk

 

Interview

20 Apr

Today, I’d like to interrupt my airship update to repost an interview that was done on me by Audelia Flint, who is the author of the Steampunk Blog: Trial by Steam. I’ve included the whole interview, but you can also view it in it’s entirety by clicking the headline link below.

An Interview with Stephan J. Smith

Stephan J. Smith is the artist behind Artsmith Craftworks, creates hand made airship models to decorate Steampunk homes and other beautiful works from paper and papier-mâché. I got the opportunity to pull him away from he preparations for the World Steam Expo to tell me a bit about his art.

How did you learn to craft your art?
I’ve been an artist at heart since I was a little kid, but I started formally as a graphic designer – went to Ferris State University in Michigan. Even though that was mainly related to advertising and marketing, I always loved the fine art field as well and have always been fascinated by paper.

How did you decide to craft model airships?
I was commissioned by an interior designer friend of mine, (Betsy Rackliffe), to construct one for a Steampunk bookstore, (Off the Beaten Path), she was designing the interior for. There was such a terrific response and interest that it was suggested that I do others and offer them for sale.

Tell me a bit about Artsmith Craftworks.
Artsmith Craftworks is the name I chose that both reflected my name and the “craft” of art that I do. As I mentioned, I love paper, so anything that involves paper interests me. I like cut paper sculpture, papier mache, hand-cast paper from recycled pulp, and many other paper media. I DO also have a great affinity for mosaic. Ceramic, glass, stone and even paper mosaic…such a beautiful art form! So I guess that’s what Artsmith Craftworks is about.

Tell me more about the importance you place on recycled and repurposed materials.
Well, my own personal “mission” is to create art using something that would have gotten thrown away otherwise. Like I said before, I like making hand-cast sheets of paper using old scrap that I have pulped, thereby making something beautiful and useful out of it again. Papier mache allows me to use scrap paper to built things with “junk” paper. I often do cut paper sculptures using scrap paper company swatch books. I use bottle lids, random plastic pieces, cut foam, wooden dowels, paper and plastic tubes, etc., and I cut them, paint them and they become something else. Most of the mosaics I do use broken tile or glass that was garbage bound and I do scrap paper mosaics as well. It just feels good to do something cool with discarded materials that would have gone into a landfill otherwise.

Any upcoming projects you’d like to tell people about?
I plan to be at the World Steam Expo in Dearborn, Michigan on Memorial Day weekend. I’ll have a couple new large airships as well as some Do-It-Yourself little airship kits. In fact, the plan is that I’ll be running a couple panels showing people how to construct the little airships with the kits I put together. True to form, these kits are made with recycled/repurposed materials! I’ve also been contacted by an independent filmaker who wants me to build an airship for a Steampunk film he’s currently working on. The airship will be shot against green screen with background dropped in during post production…very exciting stuff!

What is your favorite and least favorite medium/material with which to work? Why?
Of course, paper is my favorite and I like tile & stone in mosaic too. I think paper represents something renewable, very earthy and natural and is a very flexible and forgiving medium to work with. I don’t think I have a least favorite. I’ve worked with a lot of different materials, some not my favorites, but none that I dislike really.

What does Steampunk mean to you?
To me, Steampunk represents an exciting age when the possibilities of new materials, energies and knowledge were being discovered and utilized. To us, it represents an age of whimsical innocence, seemingly free of the hustle and bustle of modern life, but brimming with its own gadgets and wonder.

Where can people purchase your art?
Currently, my blog has a page with pieces for sale, but they are sparse at this point as I prepare for World Steam. I plan to have an Etsy store in the not-too-distant future.

Anything else you’d like to add?
Only that I appreciate the warm welcome and reception that I’ve gotten from the Steampunk community. Everyone has been very complimentary and excited when they’ve seen my pieces. And, Audelia, I’d like to invite you and anyone you’re connected with to visit my blog and have a look around and feel free to comment. I’d also like to thank you for the opportunity to be interviewed on your blog!

To learn more about Artsmith Craftworks and stay up to date on all of Stephan’s latest activities, please be sure to drop by his website and like him on Facebook!
 
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Posted in Papier-mâché, Recycled and Re-purposed, Sculpture, Steampunk

 

Propeller Assembly

16 Apr

Now we get to see what the propeller assembly looks like all put together. It certainly starts to put things in context. The patina gives the overall aged look to the brass…wait a minute…brass? Remember, this is not metal! It’s reused paper, cardboard and plastic pieces!

Steampunk propeller assembly

Here is the propeller assembly mounted to the housing and then to the body of the steampunk airship itself. Once attached, it’s thrilling to see how it’s taking shape. Pieces look like pieces, but when it all starts to come together……

Propeller assembly attached to airship

And here’s a closer look…

Attached assembly close up

Stay tuned…next time, we’ll take a look at the fin mounts!

 
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Posted in Papier-mâché, Recycled and Re-purposed, Sculpture, Steampunk

 

Propeller painting

07 Apr

Now we brass paint the propeller. Usually I would add rivets before painting, but originally, I wasn’t going to put rivets on the prop, so I went ahead and painted it. When I looked at it afterwards, I decided it would look better with rivets, so I added them over the paint then repainted it again.

Painted propeller with rivets added

After the second brass painting, the prop looks like this.

Repainted propeller

The final step is to patina paint the propeller to give it the proper aged look.

Green patina on the propeller

The results are pretty amazing! Now we have a very steampunk looking propeller for our zeppelin. The rest of the exterior pieces will have this same aged brass look. In the next post, I’ll be showing how the propeller assembly looks after it is attached to the airship, so drop back by and visit soon!

 
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Propulsion continued

06 Apr

Now we are going to look at how the propeller itself is constructed. Again, I chose a plastic laundry cap as the central hub of the propeller. The blades are factory scrap dense foam from some punch out process. I cut the foam to shape with my band saw and cut the contours the same way, then smoothed them with sandpaper. I sealed the foam blades with white latex primer, drilled pilot holes in them and in the sides of the laundry cap. I then used wall anchors and hot glue to secure the blades to the hub. To finish the shape of the prop, I used half of a plastic easter egg and the hollowed out lid off a spice bottle.

The next step would be to add rivets and brass paint… but not today. Stop by again soon!

Assembled propeller

Propeller top

 
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Posted in Papier-mâché, Recycled and Re-purposed, Sculpture, Steampunk, Uncategorized

 

Airship Propulsion

02 Apr

Now that the fins are completed, the next step is to prepare the airship for its “propulsion” components. The propeller mount and propeller make up the bulk of this unit and as always, are made from everyday materials, recycled and repurposed into something cool instead of going in the trash.

Though it’s not apparent here, the propeller mount took a bit of figuring out. I had to take into account the shape and diameter of the end of the airship…based on how far out on the tip I wanted/needed it to go. Then the end diameter of the propeller mount had to be determined and that was based on the piece that was to be the hub at the end. I wound up using a laundry detergent cap…can you believe it? Here it is…

Laundry cap hub

This plastic laundry cap was about the right size, so I placed a wooded disk on the end, glued it then drilled out a hole that fit the diameter of the steampunk airship’s central dowel. This hub piece was then glued into the end of the propeller mount. Below is the mount, which is just heavyweight fiberboard…heavier than cereal boxes…which is cut, scored with an xacto knife, folded, glued and painted.

Propeller mount - painted; rivets added

Here is the cap glued into the end of the propeller mount.

Propeller mount with cap inserted

Next post, I’ll show you the construction of the propeller itself… Again, it’s all about turning “stuff” into cool art. Stay tuned!

 
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Accent ribbing

02 Mar

Last post, I talked about doing a patina on the new airship, including the copper accents on the ridges. I decided to add rivets, then apply a heavier green patina to them and the results are…well, fantastic!

Rivets and patina added

Below is a bit closer look to show the details.

Rivet and patina detail

In keeping with my tradition of using stuff that is just sitting around or was going to be thrown away, these accent stripes are nothing more than cloth coach tape, painted with copper paint, cut into strips and patina painted with green paint. The rivets are just puffy paint, applied in dots. MAGIC!

The next step will be to start adding some external elements. (I know…I said that last time, but an artist DOES change things on the fly if need be!).

What ideas do you have for details? Let me know!

 
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Green aging the airship

25 Feb

The next step in the building of the new airship was to make it look a bit aged and to add some tint. I did this by airbrushing a dark green color on the “envelope” and the copper edging.

Green patina aging

Patina detail

Next, I’ll start showing the pieces that will make this look like a lean and mean airship! Stay tuned!

 
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New airship design

23 Feb

OK, so I have to admit that I’ve been holding out on you guys a bit. I have several airships in process, but I’ve mainly been showing you one particular design that I’m making progress on. This design is much like the one that is in Off the Beaten Path in Farmington, Michigan…you know, this one…

Up, up and away!

Truth is, there’s another design that I’ve been spending most of my time on, but I haven’t shown you that one. Wait… you may have seen it from afar, but didn’t realize it was special.

The new design has a much more hardcore steampunk look than the previous model, which was more Victorian whimsical, I think. This airship is going to look mean and aged and battlescarred.

The next photo is of the “balloon” portion of the airship when I first painted it.

Gray basecoated airship "envelope"

I then added copper ribbing for effect…

Copper ribbing added

Next time, I’ll show the ship with some patina aging…stay tuned!

 
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Kinetic sculptures!

06 Dec

This is perhaps the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long while. Dutch artist, Theo Jansen creates metal tube sculptures that move using wind power…and sometimes even stored as air pressure in recycled pop bottles! This has a double impact on me personally because not only is he doing something green and problem-solving and using some recycled materials, but he presented his art at the TED conference in Monterey, California. TED is something that I also have a huge appreciation for because new and exciting ideas are presented at these conferences. Below is the video of Theo’s presentation at the Monterey TED conference.

I hope you enjoy this remarkable piece as much as I did!!

 
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Posted in Green Technology, Recycled and Re-purposed, Sculpture

 

Legomania!

01 Dec

If you’re a Lego fan, or just like cool sculpture, here’s a blog to check out! My friend Sandi Maki of the InSights Group in Brighton, Michigan sent me this link and suggested I post it. I’ve seen Lego sculptures before, but some of these are really amazing! The sheer number of Lego pieces required to do some of these sculptures is mind boggling… Click the link to visit the blog…

Lego Sculptures

My 12 year old son loves Lego, but these are sure to knock his socks off…

Lego Boba Fett

 
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Posted in Sculpture