The Gironaut

I've not been very creative over the last few months and this guy was an attempt to make something, anything. I had no real aim when I started so just made a basic head, a pair of goggles and leather flying hat. I often find that making a basic shape helps me get going, especvially if I can find some good bits and pieces for goggles or respirators.  From there he evolved and along the way sprouted wings. I've tried a few new things, firstly using a substance called realistic water to create a glassy look to the goggles. It's used by modellers to create water, you pour it in and it sets clear. Also more detail using brass tube and sheet for things like the giro's hand control.

He's a bit derivative (9 and Stephane Halleux) as I looked around for inspiration but after a frustrating start was fun to make.

You can see the effect of the 'realistic water' fairly well here. I discovered this in a local hobbyshop and thought I'd give it a go as I run out of all the little black palstic bits I've been using for goggles so far. The liquid took about 18hours to set enough not to move so the figure had to be supported so the eyes were on the level while drying. The little brass beads in the centre work well and overall I like the difference in surface finish to the rest of the piece.

Where possible I'm trying to use as many brass bits as possible as this adds to the range of colours and surfaces.You can just make out the split pins used for the ends of the gloves and in other places. In many cases these are used to secure bits of the sculpture together, as in the centre of the harness.

The giropack is made up of found bits of plastic and bits of brass rod and splitpins are used both as decoration and to join the bits together. This is stronger than glue and also allows for dismantling when I need to add other bits.

I struggled for some time with the hand controls, originally I wanted to rigid arm rests coming out of the backpack, but I couldn't get them to look right with the materials I had. In the end I opted for bent brass rods which wrap around the figures arms and then slot into the hand controls. I think these look much better than my original idea plus are really easy to secure to the hands. The odd shaped finger coming from the hand was  inteded to slot into the original control pad design, as a result looks a bit odd. I like the idea though for future pieces.

As I continue making steampunk figures it is clear that use of brass bits or other found objects is much better than trying to fake materials. I guess the next step should be making real leather coats (or maybe straps to start) and then learning to cut and solder brass!