Ongoing Haloween prep

There's no need to panic... plenty of time for those last minute preparations. Fred 2 has a new name now, he's called Billy. And Billy needs his eyes to glow like old Freds used to, the way bulbs glow when the power supply is being overloaded... that's easy I just need some bulbs...some red tape... blob of solder here and there... and Billys eyes glow in that wonderful retro way that a struggling power supply can give.

I know... he looks a bit crosseyed but that's OK there's electricity down there, and we're talking Amps.
 It turns out there's more of a problem for Billy, Freds old heart is a bit dodgy the linking arm is going to need some repair,the end is nearly cracked all the way through.

 That's not going to last very long. luckily I have another link arm from another wiper motor I got to power another cog, it's too long but will shorten and frankenstein onto the end of the old bit.
 Back to the driving of cogs, the merry-ghool-round needs to have some revolving cogs... those old battery drills will be just right for that, the batteries don't take a charge any more so I'll wire them to a power supply
and build a mounting to keep them up out of the way.

That's all we need to see of that for now... I think you can tell from this that some of the bits rotate. A few more cogs to make and get spinning and I'm about ready. Oh yes, a few repairs to make and a funnel for the smoke...

Halloween preparations

 It really is time to start Lifting lids and getting the props ready to give a good show for Halloween. The Forgery has to be given over to the preparation. Firstly there's the problem of Fred. Fred died, not for the first time, only this time he managed to get it right and there's nothing left of him but a memory, oh, and the windscreen wiper motor that formed his original heart.
 Rebuild from scratch the first mechanical Halloween contraption I built... OK but times have changed technology moves on ... true but the rules still apply so it's back to the scrapheap (parts dept.)
 Right that should do,The box tubing from Corrins bed mounted on the stand from the garden brolly that snapped... linkages ...pivots... voila 

   Now he needs his head, where's that mask I got from the car boot and those cool shades. right all I need now is that old dust sheet... OK so he wont move.Have to redesign that bit. Shift the pivot points, that'll give the little motor a better chance.I'll double up  the slider and put a chest plate in to hang some springs from. A bit more beef on the mechanism and the springs from the anglepoise lamp. Fred seems quite pleased to show off his new physique:

 I want his eyes to light up like Old Freds did,well not quite like that because old Fred didn't wear shades, probably why his eyes were so red. I'll worry about that later, since I dropped the only old 12v auto bulb I could find... I must have more ... somewhere ...

 Does he look like Billy Connelly to you?   ....    Spooky ... maybe a top hat and some goggles

 Going to need a bigger top hat... or maybe Fred was more the Airship type

 Obviously the victim of an accident involving large voltages in a place where the hairbrush is rarely to be found.. Good Man Fred, best wishes for Halloween. Not too scarey

treasure

The resent heavy rain and subsequent flooding  ( possibly something to do with Gravitational perturbations arising from the incident with the Recombobulator) have made scavenging for goodies increasingly more hazardous. However, BR and the Proff. diligently trudged miles in search of the raw materials for the workshop screams.Hence...

 Another treasure trove of raw materials freshly gleaned from valuable resource that is the local car boot sale(at least three of them, if truth be told)These bits of old jewellery will enable the diligent producer of steam powered miniature gadgetry that is I, to disguise these powerful little devices in my usual manner. This will amplify their effectiveness over short range and render them practically invisible at longer distances.

This old power drill, on giving up it internal parts, will provide the body for another device of great importance to the well being of the Empire and its citizens and lots of other good things too!

This is a good thing. It will need protecting from stuff so a weapon will have to be produced, or a detector of bad things, or perhaps a who knows what. That would definitely improve the neighbourhood and render bad things inadequate in their attempts.
Dobbie, the motorised translocation unit of boxlike mien(my van) needed quite drastic surgery to his front suspension. this invoked the need for professional assistance. A further drain on limited resources, compounded by the compulsion to produce rubber stamps of ones Sketches and doodles. A process which also required the assistance of professionals and the parting with of monetary resources.
Since recently being selected for the York Open Studios 2013, the workshop beckons, if only to tidy up and light a fire. No, there is much work to be done, devices of power and utility to produce. Steam, Smoke and the need for metal polish... to the Forgery    

Love of my life.

If you wish to feast your eyes on some fabulous art, check out this blog    http://jobloggscom.blogspot.co.uk/

more stuff

More from the far flung corners of the room

The apprentice it would appear has left her goggles out in the snow with their gravity nullification pump still engaged. it's lucky I retrieved  them before the Moisture Absorption unit on the Steam Replenisher dug  a hole in the surface and they were lost until the thaw.

The pointer has been jammed on this Locator ring for some time but it still looks the business and will probably induce the proper level of confidence in the wearer to make actually repairing it to full functionality rather a waste of time, effort and resource.
Then I found a picture of the original Whitby Candlestick before the refit, when the ectoplasmic goo collector bottle had to be replaced on the recombobulator. This was made necessary by a sudden fluctuation in the Gravity Flux Motor settings, which propelled the Glass bottle onto the floor smashing it into shards too small to retrieve in there entirety. Repair could only be achieved by substitution of the now dysfunctional containment envelope with a newly acquired and physically more imposing diamond shaped receptacle, formerly used as ascent bottle.

The new receptacle was easily fitted in place of the former and it also provided  a perfect opportunity to upgrade the whole unit by fitting erstwhile stopper to the front of the barrel.

Forming a handsome crystaline focusing point for the Aether concentrtion oscillations.I think the overall efect is quite an improovement too.