User:Nateco/ENES100/My Work2

This is my page for my work on Project 2.

Project Goal My goal is to recreate the way people create dinosaur action figures. I want to create something less stiff and more flexible. My figures will actually have an equal range of motion as their real live counterparts.

Week 1 I used the drumel tool, drill, and handsaw to mold wood pieces into dinosaur skull shapes. First I cut small pieces of wood from available platforms. Then I used the drumel tool to shape the edges of the piece into a narrow snout. Unlike clay, wood is hard and brittle, not soft and flexible. It requires proper precision to cut it into a specific shape without ruining it, even with specially designed tools. I decided to make Tyrannosaurus my first prototype skull. But the final product looked more like Giganotosaurus. I decided to keep it for reference (and for a future Giganotosaurus body).

Week 2 After my first prototype failed, I decided to give the Tyrannosaurus skull another try. This time, not only was I successful in molding the exact shape, but I also had a new plan. When I carved the skull out, I also left a small yet thick panel of wood at the back of the bottom of the skull. When the time comes, I can use that panel to create a functional mandible.

Week 3

I used the drill and drumel tool to create the hinged jaw of Tyrannosaurus. After cutting out another piece of wood and shaping it into a mandible shape, I cut from the back of the jaw a piece of wood similar in size to the panel on the main skull. I had to use the drill and handsaw in unison just to take it out without damaging the sides of the jaw. Then I placed the mandible onto the main panel and drilled a small hole in them both. With a toothpick glued onto the sides of the holes of the mandible, a new, fully functional hinge jaw was formed.

Week 4

The body shape proved rather complex to build. After I cut off an appropriate chunk of wood, I had to use the multi saw to cut out the hip angles from the bottom. But it was simple enough to smoothe out the edges of the ribcage and the sides of the hips. Once there, I used a transformer arm component to form the neck. I cut off some of the kibble to form a wider range of motion, then i glued the back of the component onto the front part of the body annd the ball joint part on the back of the head.

Week 5

After completing a body with a functional head and neck, I decided it was time to work on the legs. Using the sharp blade on the multi saw and the filer on the dremel tool, I was able to to modify certain ball joint parts into moveable joint for the leg. Even the 3 toed foot would be poseable. After said cutting and filing, I glued the ball joint parts onto little cut up wood pole pieces. They were just thin enough to fit the joints and just thick enough to hold the body up(with some extra tweaking). Then I snapped the leg onto a hipp ball joint I had already glued onto the hip part of the body.