Four To Doomsday - Monopticon build

[galacticprobe]

All I can think of doing is adding more paint layers & sand.

This can be a slippery slope. The more layers you add, the less flexibility you'll retain and the more likely it will be to see cracks (stress fractures) while handling the sphere for more sanding and painting.

Anyone have any other ideas or know of any how to videos on sanding & painting a glossy paper mache.

Personally, I would have tried doing this with those hollow halves of styrofoam spheres (two halves glued together). Not the rough-textured ones, but the smooth-faced ones like they make coffee cups out of. I've seen those in craft stores and they do come in 12-inch diameters, with roughly 1-inch thick walls. That said...

I did find these that might help:

Direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p5Nh5IYki8 (7:21 minutes long)

Direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm1Jp9ZXAPo (Not sure how helpful this one will be, but it covers more than just making spheres. 11:07 minutes long.)

There are many more vids to look through from these search results:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+make+paper+mache+sphere+

Hopefully one of those will be helpful.

Dino.

[elkad]

All I can think of doing is adding more paint layers & sand.

This can be a slippery slope. The more layers you add, the less flexibility you'll retain and the more likely it will be to see cracks (stress fractures) while handling the sphere for more sanding and painting.

Anyone have any other ideas or know of any how to videos on sanding & painting a glossy paper mache.

Personally, I would have tried doing this with those hollow halves of styrofoam spheres (two halves glued together). Not the rough-textured ones, but the smooth-faced ones like they make coffee cups out of. I've seen those in craft stores and they do come in 12-inch diameters, with roughly 1-inch thick walls. That said...

I did find these that might help:

Direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p5Nh5IYki8 (7:21 minutes long)

Direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm1Jp9ZXAPo (Not sure how helpful this one will be, but it covers more than just making spheres. 11:07 minutes long.)

There are many more vids to look through from these search results:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+make+paper+mache+sphere+

Hopefully one of those will be helpful.

Dino.

The first one I have in my "How 2 Playlist", , the second is just a repeated process with a different mix recipe for the paste. I'm manly looking for how I might fill in cracks & small divots using paint, sandpaper, & maybe a wall putty. Maybe If I look for "how to fix & paint wall cracks". I'm thinking wall plaster & paper mache aren't that different. Or Maybe, how to fix a broken paper mache..., prop, figure, something.

Just to make sure I don't end with a broken one, I'm making another sphere using just paper slips than ground pulp paste.

I found Pulp Paste may be less messy, but it's not a symmetric as the Paper Slips.

TIP: Paper Mache Is Very Messy, Wear A Tarp!

I'm on my third layer of paper mache. You think five layers will do it, or should I go with ten?

[Davros Skaro]

The colour of your sphere reminds me of the mind sphere from Shada. If you made 2 then you could use the other one for just that, a mind sphere. LMSO

Chris.

P.S. looking good by the way. 

[elkad]

The colour of your sphere reminds me of the mind sphere from Shada. If you made 2 then you could use the other one for just that, a mind sphere. LMSO

Chris.

P.S. looking good by the way.  

I've seen "Shada" only once, it was a rental. I plan to get a copy at some point. Thanks for the Idea.

Comparing to a screencap, it might work.   (I wonder how they get such a smooth surface?)


Any-who, back to the diary, .

I took the video of the maniacal iris diagram, resized  the size of my player & stenciled out the parts on a piece of wax paper.



I tape the drawings to cardboard cereal box & mad a more sturdy stencil to cut out.



I completely forgot I wanted to make some PVC Tetris pieces glued on to the ball before I put on the black coat.
Thinking a project threw is difficult in my mind. I have all the things I want to do but I forget what order of importance. (to do list)

Make the ball, make the iris, make the iris cavity, sand cavity, make small Tetris pieces & glue in the cavity, cut hole for cavity & glue cavity, make Tetris parts for ball surface, paint ball & cavity, insert iris mechanism in a holding tube & insert & glue inside, fill inside with (grate stuff) foam, make back accesses panel for back & done.

[Davros Skaro]

The colour of your sphere reminds me of the mind sphere from Shada. If you made 2 then you could use the other one for just that, a mind sphere. LMSO

Chris.

P.S. looking good by the way. 

I've seen "Shada" only once, it was a rental. I plan to get a copy at some point. Thanks for the Idea.

Comparing to a screencap, it might work.  (I wonder how they get such a smooth surface?)

Their ball/sphere was molded plastic, when you get your DVD, watch the "Special Features", they tell you a lot.


Don't panic if you get things in the wrong order, most times they can be rectified/fixed.
Liking this build, keep up the good work!

Chris.

[elkad]

Looking back at the screencaps the 12 pedal or blade iris will work alot better. I was thinking of the NSD Daleks, they have a five blade iris to make that hexagon glowing eye shape.

I made a paper iris to fix any bugs when I make the plastic one. I forgot to take pics of the copleted paper iris, so I made a video on youtube as a catch all thing.

https://youtu.be/QQWQzqFid_U

The gray sphere, I don't remember what it was called in the shada episode. I tried smoothing out the sphere using tissue paper, it didn't work. So anyone making a Mache sphere with tissue paper, forget it. I added another layer to the gray shere making 11 layers of mache. It started to crack all around, so use pulp mache as a crack filler.



I'm using a plastic bottle for the iris blades & thick flatten PVC for the frame.



I used scotch tape to make sure the ink wouldn't smear.





Peal off the tape when finished cuting.



Now the frame. The design to this iris didn't show or say anything about making slide holes for the blades, I had to find that out myself. Making the paper iris, I made the top frame the same as the bottom, & it didn't move, so I made the holes bigger & longer strings. that did the job.




Next I need to make or get some plastic or wood pins for the blades to slid & pivot on. Hopefully it wont brake in mid turn.

[elkad]

I used 1/8 dowel for the leaf blade pins, numbered them & curled it up to line it up withe other holes in the other disk. I drilled & inserted the pins, then let the glue dry.



I put it all together & tried it out. The slider pins slipped out, so I tried gluing a cardboard sleeve to hold the pins, but that only restricted the iris so far, so now I make out some more flattened PVC to make another disk to lengthen the slide holes.



I peeled the cardboard & glued the extra disc & made longer slide holes.



In a way this was a happy accident. If I didn't put in the second disc I wouldn't have room for my LED's or anywhere to mount them.  



next step, make a diffusing filter, (sanded acrylic), & screen, (white paper slip), to project the iris shadow

[elkad]

I made the acrylic disk from an acrylic book end. Manly a U bent piece of acrylic sheet. I drilled peg holes then added the dowels then drilled hole spacers where the LED's are.



I sand down the disk & a piece of wax paper with double side sticky tape to diffuse the LED' s.



Next is the iris paper, projection, screen thingy.



I hot glued the LED's so the wires don't touch.



Next paint the blades / peddles.

[elkad]

I'm having problems with the shadow it projects on the paper I have on the front of the eye.

When its open its bright.



When its closed it doesn't make that defined iris shadow, just looks dimmer.



What do you think I should do?
Find a way to focus the light, add another paper sheet, put the paper sheet in the back part & show off the black iris blades?  

[galacticprobe]

It looks like you've got too much diffusion: sanding down the perspex to diffuse the light, and then adding some wax (parchment) paper to it as well. Maybe if you leave the perspex clear and just use the wax paper to diffuse the light you'll get the iris effect you're looking for? Or you could try leaving out the wax paper since you've already got the perspex diffused?

One of those possibilities should give better results. They're at least worth a try. (And at the moment the only things I can think of.)

I hope these are helpful.

Dino.

[elkad]

I'm using a soda bottle head for the inside of the eye. Lets call the bottle head the cornea.
The Pringles can holds the cornea & iris in place.




Cutting the eye hole, I used the Pringles can to cut a sized hole, looking threw the top of the can to guide my drimel.
Then sanded down the hole till it fit the can.





Put the cornea on, see if it fits.



I don't want to cut or glue anything yet. I still have to adapted the other piece of the iris to fit in the hole & glue it to the other half of the Pringles can as a turning mechanism to ope & close the iris.

Check my todo list.
All I need to do now is sand the iris to fit threw the hole, lock down the Pringles iris control, attach battery's for the light, cut out some Tetris panels on the ball & cornea, sand the cornea for painting along with the panels, make a black or green screen stand, & should be done. 

[galacticprobe]

This is really looking good, elkad! Some clever engineering you've done to make the parts and get them all to fit.

And this...

Check my todo list.
All I need to do now is sand the iris to fit threw the hole, lock down the Pringles iris control, attach battery's for the light, cut out some Tetris panels on the ball & cornea, sand the cornea for painting along with the panels, make a black or green screen stand, & should be done.  

Is it just me, or when you read this, does it sound like a bit of 10th Doctor dialogue in your heads?

Dino.

[justsomeguy]

I love the Monopticons! This is a great build, and I'm impressed with the iris! Looking forward to seeing the next steps!

[elkad]

Making the Tetris pieces was the easy part, gluing them is the hard part. I made some poster board stencils & cut out some PVC, heated them & glued them. Or I tried to.
I had to hold the piece on the ball for several minutes to dry. I suddenly realized I didn't need PVC for the Tetris pieces. Its a Paper Mache ball, USE PAPER.  

I took the PVC off & glued poster board cut outs  from the stencils.
When I glued them on I realized they weren't level. I should have gone over the ball with a laser line & marked out leveling marks.

[elkad]

I just filed in the cracks in between the paper Tetris blocks with wood filer, sand down the edges & gave it two coats of black Rust-Oleum paint.
I may need to revise my iris. I want to put it up on a green screen & that needs a rod & cable system to hold & operate the eye.
I have so many ideas, make a green screen eye & animate the iris, make the iris one size & make the animated iris an option I can put in, make a spinning monopticon, (that would have to have ether a stranded no focus iris or a rod system to open & shut the eye, that and have a monopticon with no big hole in the back & a green screen rod out the top.)