Ornithopter work in progress

A sketch of how I think I'll be progressing with the flying machine. I'm keen work on the mechanics and pistons, making them feel crafted and ornate as opposed to engineered and industrial. Lots of development to go but definitely a start.

© Ian Bunting (2014)

First item back from Shapeways

Although I've produced many models for rapid prototyping, work being work means that I've never actually been able to show a physical print out to a potential client and therefore never really been able to show fully what I do. To improve things I decided to prepare an old model of a Snowcat concept I produced for the Captain Scarlet Television series. On the cautious side I've so far only sent a small part of the model to see how their printing works out. Having now received the part back I'm quite pleased with the results and couldn't really have expected any better although I'm still very keen to see further improvements to the technology to get crisper, cleaner results. Here's some photos of the result:

The Underside photo shows how the volume was hollowed out to minimise the the amount of material used. The majority for the part was only 2mm thick but this certainly seams to be strong enough.

 This shows the area that I would most like the technology to improve in. On this subtle surface it is very clear to see the layers from the printer. I was prepared for this and in all fairness Shapeways does make it very clear that this is something that will happen. I'm hoping that for the next pieces I'll upload the model at an angle more sympathetic with the strata and possibly eliminate it from the final print.

I'm also now very keen to try out some of the other materials that they have on offer.

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Here's a repeat original concept done back in 2004 so you can get a better idea of how the piece fits in.

 © Indestructible Production Company (2004)

Thoughts of a Medieval Steampunk Ornithopter

Basic Chassis Armature

I've recently been having an idea of designing a Medieval Flying Machine for a bit of fun. I wanted to avoid the standard Airship trend and instead look towards Ornithopters. Basically flapping wing flying machines. So far I've taken a good look at the mechanics and linkages that make them work as although it is a fanciful project I'd still like it believe that it might be relatively feasible. Doing this was a great exercise in familiarising myself with the Inverse Kinematic Rhino plugin, Bongo, and here's the crude but effective animation I created.