Early last year (!) I made a prototype of an adjustable giraffe model. A telescopic giraffe in box 

I've been mulling over the mechanism but never really got anywhere. Anyway, yesterday Hugo's forum post reminded me about the giraffe. That and my new mushroom model intersected nicely.

Pneumatics! That could be that answer. So, a quick sketch and section of telescopic tubing later and I think I have the start of a new model.

Should be a fun one!

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I've finally got round to updating the background on my twitter page. Rather than the twitter cloud effect, it now features a cup of coffee, some paper doughnuts, my notebook and me with a model. Far more appropriate I'm sure you will agree!

You can follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/robives where I send out notifications of new blog posts and (very) occasionally comment on other stuff.

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Mushroom is a paper animation model for you to download, print out and make. As a member, you can download the parts file at the end of this blog post. None members can download the file for a nominal fee.

The mushroom model is powered by pneumatics. Pump the piston on the side of the model and the mushroom lifts up revealing his eyes. Stop and the mushroom drifts back down to the box as the air leaks out of the box.

Download the model and lets get started making this fun and quirky model.

There are two version of the project in the downloadable file, colour and mono, pick the version to fit your needs. Print out the three parts pages onto thin card. 230 micron board is perfect for the job. You'll need a few basic tools to make this model. Scissors, ruler, a sharp knife, some PVA glue and a glue spreader. Carefully score along all the dotted lines and cut out any holes before you cut out the parts form the sheet. Both these jobs are easier on a whole sheet. Cut and score as accurately as possible for best possible results.

Fold up and glue the mushroom cap. Set it to one side as the glue dries.

Fold round and glue the stalk tube. Make sure that you line the ends up accurately so that there is no twist in the tube.

Fit the stalk tube into the box top and glue it into place.

Fold round and glue together the stalk.

Thread the stalk into the stalk tube. Glue the stalk base into place on the end of the stalk as shown in the picture.

Flip the stalk over and glue the stalk top into place as shown.

Assemble the cap stand as shown above.

Thread the cap stand down through the hole in the top of the stalk, glue the three flaps down.

Glue the grey area on the cap support to the cap stand. Let the glue dry thoroughly.

Apply a thin strip of glue to the cap support in the three areas arrowed above.

Fit the cap to the cap support. Line up the ends with the crease lines on the cap where the arrows point.

Let the glue dry thoroughly. The mushroom should be free to move up and down.

Glue the two box sides together. Glue the spacer to the box base as shown above. Glue the base to the box sides.

Glue the box top with the mushroom into place on the top of the box.

Assemble the two parts of the piston.

Glue the piston onto the side of the box as shown.

Pump the piston and the mushroom will pop out of the box!

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Just printed out the parts sheets for an upcoming pneumatic mushroom model. All being well it should be available as a download very soon.

In the process of developing this model, I've been experimenting with some pneumatic mechanisms. I was originally going to add them to the mushroom but in the end I've decided to use these for a different model. I'll finish the mushroom first though, I know how easily I get distracted :-)

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Thanks to JohnnyG  for drawing my attention to the lack of search box on the web site. Fancy forgetting that!

Sorted now.

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Thanks to Bob Winder for sending in this fabulous animation of the Agreeable Sheep. Bob's company Graze sends out healthy snack pack of natural nibbles in the UK. The model shown is made from recycled Graze boxes.

Is Graze Great? You can't argue with the Agreeable Sheep!

Useful Link:
The Agreeable Sheep

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The parts for this model are available to download at the end of this blog post. If you are member you'll be able to download them for free. Non-members can download them for a small fee.

The model comes on four pages, the first three need to be printed onto thin card. Thin photocopier card is ideal. Note that the pages are marked 'front' and 'back'. Print out the front page, flip the card over, return it to the printer and print the back on the other side. Wait until the ink is completely dry before continuing.

Solid black lines show where to cut, dotted lines are crease lines. Before cutting out the parts, score the dotted lines and cut out any holes. The more carefully and accurately you cut and score the parts the better your model will be!

Curve round and glue down the tab on the right hand end as shown in the picture. Assemble the rest of the body side as shown. Finish off by threading the centre tab through and gluing it down. Use the line drawing above to help with positioning.

Assemble the shoulder wheel as shown above. Note that there are grey lines on the long tab marking where the centre piece glues.

Glue the shoulder wheel to the body side so that it is free to move. It should be able to rotate approximately three quarters of a turn.

With the shoulder wheel lined up as shown, glue the paper belt to the top of the wheel. Use a narrow strip of glue so that the belt is joined to the smallest area possible.

Thread the belt round through the hole in the body side. Cut the belt to length and glue the ends together with the belt a loose-ish fit as shown above.

Repeat the same process with the other body side.

Fold and glue together the head. 

Pull the belt down so that the shoulder wheel is pointing up as high as possible.

Apply a thin band of glue to the lowest end of the belt. (Arrowed)

Line up the base of the head with the base of the body side then press the glued area of the belt onto the head. Repeat the same process with the other body side.

Let the glue dry completely before carrying on but do make sure that the belt doesn't stick to the body side!

Glue the body front and back to the body sides - make sure that the head remains free to move.

Roll the arm cover round a suitable pen to curve the surface...

...then glue the arm cover to the arm underside.

Glue the arm ends to the shoulder wheel as shown above.

Glue the body covers into place on the front and back of the body.

Roll round and glue on the two eye tubes.

Curve the four leg parts round a suitable pen. Glue together two of the leg parts then glue them to the leg centre. Repeat the process on the other side to complete the legs assembly. 

Glue the waist to the bottom of the body.

Glue the legs to the waist and the feet to the legs to complete the Beltbot. Once the glue is dry your Beltbot is ready.

I hope you enjoy it!

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£2.00

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I use Adobe illustrator for designing my models, it if fast, powerful and flexible. Illustrator is a vector illustration program meaning that it draws using lines and blocks of colour. The plus side of this is that the files produced are small, great for sending over the internet, and the lines remain crisp and sharp even at high magnifications. the downside is that it is hard to add texture to pictures. And textures are what give pictures depth and life. I could work using a bit map program such as PhotoShop but this means that shapes are harder to draw and edit, and the files are larger. So, time to compromise.

With the BeltBot model I have mixed Illustrator for the lines and shapes with PhotoShop for the texture.

I've not tried this before so I may well develop a different process over time but for now here is what I did.

I created an Illustrator file in two layers, On the right is the top layer, the solid outline and the dotted lines for creases. To the left is the bottom layer showing the outline of the the design and the basic flat colours.

I copied the colours from Illustrator and pasted them into Photoshop.

I've then used the magic wand tool to select areas of the picture and copy them into new layers. In the above picture I've created a new layer called rivets containing the top and bottom row of rivets.

I work my way through the main image dividing it into layers. I finish up with layers for rivets, pins, brass, leather, wood and the background

I can then go through the layers adding effects. To make the rivets look 3D I added a bevel effect as well as a drop shadow and outer glow.

To create a wood grain effect I added noise to the wood layer.

The noise is a little fine grained so I coarsened it with the pixelate tool...

...then stretched it out into a grain effect with the motion blur tool. 

The end result has a lot more depth than the starting image.

I then saved out the image as a jpeg and dropped it back into Illustrator on a layer behind the cut lines and crease lines. The result is a file, not as large as a full page jpeg with sharp easily editable lines but with all the texture I was aiming for.

I hope you like it!

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Just finished a colour version of the Belt Powered Robot - Beltbot.

I've gone for a sort of steam-punk theme. Wood, brass and leather colours.

For the first time with a model I've mixed photoshop and illustrator in the parts layouts, this has given me the chance to add a wood effect as well as  shadows and bevels.

I've completed the instructions photography so the completed model should be online soon.

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You'll have noticed, I'm sure, the picture of the notebook on the home page. (Bottom right in case you missed it) It occurred to me that I hadn't ever got round to making the model that's shown on that page.

I like the idea of using pneumatics in a paper model. This model is a test of principles, to see what is practical. What works and what doesn't. I'm starting simple and will take it from there.

The mushroom character sits on top of a box with a body closely fitting inside a hexagonal tube. It needs to be a tight fit to keep the air in but not so tight that friction stops it moving. I'll be trying out a couple of different sizes of body inner to see where the right balance lies. The base box has a small hole in it, roughly 7mm square. Before adding the piston I tested the model by blowing through the hole. 

I then added the piston. It has roughly 50% more volume than the volume displaced by the moving head, to allow for leakage. It works well but I may try using double or more volume to see how that works.

More soon, meanwhile I'm off to do some more layout and colour work on the belt drive robot, don't worry, I hadn't forgotten.

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