Steam punk bike

Now that half term is here (and the weather is suitably grey and uninviting) work on the vehicle has sped up. I have been stuck on the basic shape for awhile, partly through lack of enthusiasm but also as I couldn't figure out how the forks and handlebars should look. An old hosepipe nozzle did the trick. I've drilled it and used thick brass rods to make the handlebars with old plastic ampules for the grips. I've been using brass rod a lot lately, it is great for joining pieces together securely but I can also then deconstruct to add more bits. This is important for someone who makes stuff up as he goes along!
I've used the rods to join the 2 halves of the frame together rather than cutting mdf, it's strong and light and once you get the hang of aligning holes much easier: I just slot the bits together.
I've used it to make control levers also (with white beads for knobs)

Also I think the extra type of material adds to the overall finish.

 



I realised the other night that my bike needs a really cool exhaust, after rummaging through my bits box I found these sweeping curved tubes, which once sprayed looked just right. I had a bit of trouble securing them but finally slotted thick wire inside and then sank them into dowel, this was then fitted into a plastic drum. Fortunately I had drilled decorative holes into the frame (see top photo) so 2 more bits of dowel allow the whole thing to slot onto the frame securely enough to take the weight of the long exhaust.

The bike is close to finished in these photos, I just need to add foot rests, a few little bits and pieces for detail (these will come from my dwindling plastic bits box) and finish off the engine behind the seat.

This is always the fun part and sadly over too quickly.