Making the Models

I have now finished making all the models for my project. The most fun ones to make have been the woodland creatures. I have really enjoyed playing with latex and paint effects and I think they have turned out very well. These models tend to get a good reception from people who see them, and they are often surprised that the models are flexible because they expected them to be made of clay or wood.



The robot models have also worked very well. I ran into some problems when I was putting these together because the different parts were hard to fix, but with a lot of experimentation and some advice from my tutor I found ways that worked. On the whole, I found that the best way was to use epoxy resin, but in some places I couldn't keep the models still and pressed together for 30 minutes so I used a hot glue gun.


The success of the everyday object creature models is more mixed. I am very pleased with the umbrella-bat although it is better when you can hold it and move it around which won't be possible in the exhibition. I will experiment with different ways of positioning this. I am also pleased with the earphone model which is very interesting to look at.

A significant challenge with many of my models was how to make them stand up. I played a lot with balance, adding different weights to different parts of the models. I also tried changing the shape and positions of the feet. I glued circles of acetate to the bottom of the earphone creatures feet to help it balance; I glued bolts to the backs of one of the robot's legs because the centre of balance was much too far back and because of the shape of the legs, I couldn't shift it forwards; and for another robot I filled the legs with resin so that they would hold the weight of the body.