So another research visit to a museum was clearly in order, and this time it was a return to the National Slate Mining Museum in Llanberis, North Wales- a regular haunt when in Wales and desperate for something free to do with the Childs. Actually that rather undersells it, as it is a terrific museum, and a proper collection of industrial bits and pieces… none of that stupid push-button malarkey here. Formerly the workshops for the gargantuan slate quarry which once existed here, the buildings are now a rather nice museum, with lots of old machinery which could provide inspiration for this project.
A possible solution to making the sculpture a train-based design? I really like the rustic look of these sleepers, something like this might be possible for the final build if I go down that route...
Amongst the many items on display was this beast- it is a self-propelled, railway-mounted crane. Vertical boiler, long crane arm, stabilising ‘legs’… a lot of features which would be very suitable for inclusion in the Jabberwock build. The vertical-boiler angle is something I hadn’t considered yet either, which would free the monster away from the large, conventional-outline steam locomotive and have the added bonus of making the monster appear taller, more akin to the pose of the monster in the book illustration; certainly more chance of it towering over the viewer rather than skulking.
I really like the texture of the machine, all rust and abandonment, exactly the sort of colours I'd want on the final sculpture...
There was definite food for thought there... time to do some more sketching and model building!
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