Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Son of The Ghoul Goes West, part 3

Hello again, loyal S&P-brains!

I'm excited to show you this set of pictures; it's just an update of our dear Nevermore's progress but I am happy about each step forward!

I thought a few pictures in front of a plain background would make it easier for you to see his form.


I decided to make his 'improved' wings just as feathery-shaggy and non-descript as the rest of his feathery-shaggy-non-descript body. He looks like he just got run through the rinse cycle and left in the tumbler for a day or two.

I love it.

And as you can see, over the wiring and copper tubing that affixes him to his perch, I've sculpted some legs and talons from a little 'earthtone' Model Magic.



When they dry, I'll paint and wash them to look like they oughta. In case anyone was wondering, good close up images of raven legs and claws are hard to locate (yet it is very easy to find all kinds of images relating to Ravenclaw... go figure). I just thought about chicken legs and went for it. It's not like this is supposed to be a hyper-realistic piece.

It's easiest to see how it moves and looks so far with a little sideways video. The sound is low, but the audio isn't important here. Neither is the video, apparently, because it's sideways and I cannot fix it for some reason. At any rate if you tilt your head to your left you'll have a good ol' time.

I think it's coming along beautifully.


Cartoony, pretty, perched and perfect!

Next step is painting up those talons. Then we move on to assembling audio and then programming.

More to come.


DDSPaintingsoon!
Stitched together from dead bodies by Mike C. at February 22, 2011
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7 comments:

  1. ShellHawkFebruary 22, 2011 at 7:43 AM

    Absolutely fantastic! I'll take one too, please!

    Is that Orson Welles speaking! Fantastic quote for Nevermore!

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  2. Mike C.February 22, 2011 at 12:19 PM

    Aw, thank you kindly good Shellhawk. It's *me* doing my best Orson Welles from this past Hallowe'en's graveyard display, copping his closing speech from the famous War of the Worlds b'cast of '38.

    And let me tell ya -- the moment I can machine multiple parts for these guys, I would love to get into the biz of selling a few. It's a LOTTA work, haha!

    Thanks for hanging out at the S&P.

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  3. Chris 'Frog Queen' DavisFebruary 22, 2011 at 2:51 PM

    Absolutely amazing. I agree with ShellHawk...I will take two please!

    Cheers!

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  4. Mike C.February 22, 2011 at 8:48 PM

    I wish I could make one for each of you right now, ladies. I'd be proud to see a Nevermore in your genius displays.

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  5. Dean H.March 31, 2011 at 11:35 PM

    I absolutely love it. Especially the raggedy look. CAn you share any secrets about the mechanics inside? Servo controller type? Software (VSA?.

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  6. Mike C.April 1, 2011 at 2:27 AM

    Welcome to the S&P Dean -- sidle up to the bar and I'll get you a few for free!
    There are a few more posts regarding the Raven that show a bit more of the innards, and they can be found in the archives or if you click 'Son of The Ghoul Goes West' in the 'In Common' tags list on the right.
    But it's basically six servos -- beak, brow, head turn, head nod, wing shrug/tail lift, and lean forward/back.
    The servos are controlled via a MiniSSCII board via a computer using VSA.
    The body began as a hacked up RC car chassis -- I didn't use any of the electronics or servos, just about 2/3 of the plastic frame to mount servos, and so on. After deciding what/where my my linkages were going to be, I just screwed, glued, soldered, mounted, and so on. Then I started putting on the feathers.
    The wiring from the MiniSSCII (in the back of the bird) is sent out with a single CAT5 cable through the right talon into the T-bar and out the base to the power supplies and computer.
    I suppose I could discuss this tech stuff in greater depth on the 'blog, but it loses some of the magic, haha! I never really wanted the S&P to be a how-to blog, so I guess I've sorta neglected that aspect. Maybe I could get into a little more of it when I'm discussing my figures...
    Glad to have you here Dean, and thanks for asking!
    DDSP!

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  7. Dead ThingsApril 8, 2011 at 10:35 PM

    I heard of this on Hauntcat's Mad props. Absolutely brilliant!! The movements are amazing. How did you achieve such realistic movement, hours of programming? Outstanding job, I bow to your kung fu!

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