Jabberwock Pt.15: If Only It Could Fly...

So this was another leap on from the Dieselpunk tank, and an attempt to make the monster fly.  Aeroplanes powered by steam are a nice staple of the Steampunk genre, but probably wouldn't actually work from a logical point of view.  Too heavy, and the same problems about needing to keep the boiler level as was identified with the Airfix Monster.  But something which looked like a First World War bomber, all canvas and strapping, with early piston-engines, might have looked the part for a machine 'dragon'.

Back in the dim and distant past, I designed a few different flying machines for the Steampunk "Century Survey" project, such as the staple of the genre, the dirigible.  Not really suitable for this build, but a starting point nonetheless.

So onto a Biplane or Triplane design, something not unlike a Vickers Vimmy, one of the earliest bombing planes used by the RAF.

A slight diversion though, an earlier model from an earlier project.  This was inspired by various mythical animals, Sleipnir (legendary 8-legged horse of Odin) and the Pegasus.  And especially by a statue in Wednesbury of the former.

The model was built for a project in 2003, and has cropped up in a few projects since.  I dug it out for this juncture, to see how a more 'realistic' metal-looking creature might appear, a complete break away from the vehicle-inspired designs...

It didn't really lead anywhere directly, but it did provide some avenues for explorations...

The machine aspect needed exploring after all, so the model would be a right lash-up of some spare laser-cut bits from work (spooky wings designed for a story chair for one of the Year 11 projects), cheapie Spitfire kits, and lots of odds and ends of model kits.

The main body of the plane was simply a length of dowel, profiled a little on a belt sander, with a suitable head shape from ply bunged on the front...

For the 'skin' of the monster (the tattered remnants of the canvas covering of the airframe) I ended up using a pair of tights, for a slightly see-through look.  And my word, did I get some odd looks buying them...

PROS

Actually looked rather good, and got the whole ‘dragon’ motif that I was thinking of for the Jabberwock.

CONS

Doesn’t work in a woodland setting, and it didn't scream Steampunk as much as the other designs, which was a technical requirement of the commission.  Plus the sculpture would need to be bloody immense to work.  Ah well, it was back to the drawing board…