Happy New Year

  The New Year fast approaches full of promise and excitement. I hope the New Year bring you health and happiness. Thank you all my friends, customers and supporters for a providing encouragement in starting my new venture. The truth is I did not have much choice in the matter however your encouragement has been invaluable. I hope 2014 will be at least as interesting as 2013.

      I wish you all a peaceful and prosperous New Year

As Mr Singer Intended

   It has been a fairly eventful couple of weeks and very different to Christmas of the past few years. Orders and inquiries have been coming in steadily. I managed to get over to the leather suppliers and have the makings for a couple of commissions. I start back On Monday 30th to get a couple of items in the post.

  The 29 has some more attention and oil. I had to resort to the hammer to persuade a part of the mechanism to join the reminder of the machine in working. The mechanism that moves the foot up and down just needed a few friendly raps to free it. More oil and working it up and down freed it up and had running as smooth as silk. The tensioner, stitch length and foot lift all now work as Mr Singer intended. I found the parts I need from the Internet so I expect I will be sewing by this time next week - postal service permitting. 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all the folks that have helped me along the way this year. Merry Christmas to my customers that have put money in my pocket in exchange for a lovely hand crafted leather pieces, repairs or refurbishments. Merry Christmas to all those that have given me moral support. And the biggest Marry Christmas to she who must be obeyed for believing in me. I feel as if I have already had my Christmas present this year. Here's to the New Year, happy and prosperous not just for me but for all you big hearted souls.

Best wishes from Dave.

Papplewick Christmas Fair

   I was one of a select few craftsmen to be invited to attend the Christmas Fair at Papplewick Pumping Station. Click HERE for their website. There was David Gill the Blacksmith, Bob Newman the wood turner and me doing my leather work. Well, I would have done some leather work but it was perishing cold. The sun was so low in the sky, it being the day after the winter solstice, and the courtyard being surrounded by two story buildings and beyond that a big stand of trees which all led to a lack of direct sunshine. The wind was biting cold. I set up my gazebo but only put one side of it. Anymore and I would have a parachute loosely tethered to the ground. The one side gave a degree of shelter from the wind. I set up my new folding table and set out the goodies. Extra care was needed to make sure nothing would blow away in the gusts.

   11 0'clock came and gates were opened. Folks came in and went straight past me with hardly a glance. I discovered this was the choir that were performing at midday. Visitors came in but did not linger. Most were dressed in their finery for the concert. The volunteers of the Pumping Station came by to say hello which was very nice. Bob the wood turner was set up next to me. He was very organised. He had a trailer which was set up with a lathe, lights and a heater. It took him minutes to set up and pack up. Bob likes a chat so we kept each other company through the day.

Old and new knobs

I was recently given a seized up Singer 29 leather sewing machine. The wooden knob on the flywheel was broken. I knew a wood turner would be at the event so I took along the broken knob. It had split from end to end from drying out. Bob was only too pleased to make my a replacement. As he rightly said, doing something bring people in and it passes the time. The story of the knob gave Bob something to talk to the customer about and it demonstrated the cross over in skills.

The new knob fitted to the 29

 

   As the day warmed up and the wind dropped more people came to see the various performances. Those folks that had seen the performances then came to look at our stalls as did the performers themselves. Lots of the volunteers came by to say hello. I met some interesting folks. Lots of stories for folks to tell me. I found out that the model boat club was based at the pumping station. That gave me an idea to do up my A class yacht so I could sail it at the station. The A class is impressive in full sail.


   Ashley, the Director of the station, came by to see how we were all doing. I now have an open invitation for all the open days at the station for 2014. I can see Papplewick being a regular venue for me. It is a nice place and nice people. The event close at 4pm. Just as well, the Sun had set and with the sun went whatever heat it provided. Being out doors all day was fine. I was dressed for the day and the gazebo provided shelter from the wind.

   The steam engines were shutdown and were started to be cleaned. I packed up my pitch and wished everyone a Merry Christmas and with that my last event for 2013 was over. Time to take stock over the Christmas break. Having said that I was at The Identity Store in Matlock on Monday. Jackie made me a brew which came with a mince pie. Jackie left me to peruse the stock. I have a couple of commissions for which I need suitable pieces of leather. Jackie came up trumps as usual. Whilst chatting over the brew told that Jackie and Peter, The Identity Store, would like to do some joint events in 2014. We did a joint event at the Midlands Game Fair earlier in the year. Click HERE for the story.

Merry Christmas.
 

Savage Opress - The Clone Wars

   I was asked by a couple if I could rework a costume they had made. The character was Savage Opress from animated TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

We had a chat about the positive and negative elements of the existing costume.  One of the issues was that the armour was a little flat and the arms holes were too tight. Rendering a 2D image into real world 3D always presents issues. There is a pesky thing here on Earth called gravity. Gravity does not exist in comic books. So getting the full effect one the shoulder poudrons and arm blades were always going to be tricky. The suits had to wearable as the customer was going to use the costume for trooping. Prior to the order for the costume being placed I was at a trooping for the 99th Garrison at the Bluebell hospice I found a comic book of the Clone Wars. Perfect reading for the back story of Savage Opress.

The tunic was a good fit and just about fitted one of my manikins. It was not difficult to work out the size and relative positions of the pouldron lames [the individual leaves of the pouldron] from the screen shots. Card is a handy material to make up maquettes of the pieces. The key bit for me was to make the pouldrons appear to be floating. The obvious answer is spacers but they would effect the curve of the pouldron and how was I going to create a foundation to support the floating poudrons? 

   The answer was to create a yolk that fit under the tunic and rest of the costume build hinged on this decision. The yolk comes in two parts, one for each shoulder. The yolk sits on top of foam padding. The padding gives a comfort fit and at the same time holds the screws in place and shields the heads from the costumers skin. I used a 50mm webbing straps to act as a hinges to allow movement in the front chest area. The back strap holds the yolk in place without help from the tunic but also allows the tunic to be removed. After getting the yolk to work it was relatively straight forward to cut all the lames and blades from Aluminium. As with any cutting process the edges needed cleaning up and all the pairs of lames and arm blade needed regularising. Regularising ships planks just needs a plane, regularising lames needs a file and a lot of patience especially the blades. At this stage I was ready from a first fitting. 

 We arranged to meet on the motorway and booked a meeting room for our purposes. I had profiled the yolk in advance and prepped the webbing straps. I dropped the yolk on Mark [the customer]. It was a close fit from the off. It took about half an hour to custom fit the yolk. We then secured the yolk to the foam padding. Another tweak session with the padding locked in place. The tunic was then placed over the yolk for a trial fit. My concern was that the yolk would be to bulky under the tunic. The fit was good. It actually tightened up the tunic. The sleeves holes were always a bit tight. We decided that the sleeve holes would definitely need to be changed. The tunic had fleece sleeves and these would not support the arm blades and the arm aperture need re-profiling. With Mark in his suit we spent a good deal of time marking up the tunic with the position of the pouldron's fixing points and the arm blades. Julia made sure we had plenty of tea to lubricate my brain. We finalised the requirements and packed up and said our goodbyes.

   Back in the studio:  The detailing on the tunic was a little lacking on the pectoral area of the chest. I made a couple of large shaped patches to fit from the chest to the shoulder blades, one of reach side. The patches were sewn on with and pocket padded out with wadding to give the chest area a level of relief. The next job was to cut all the spacers to length for PVC rod. The rod had to drill for the special interscrews. The interscrews had to be cut to length for the position in which they to be installed allowing from the thickness of the Aluminium and the leather that was to cover the aluminium in the finishing. The spacers gave the floating effect. The interscrews gave the strength and articulation of the lames. One vital for the look the other vital for comfort and wearability. The arms were re-made in leather and a little larger than the originals to allow for the arm blades supporting plate and foam backing. More spacers and interscrews for the blades. Then all I had to do cut holes in the tunic and sleeves for the interscrews, drill holes in the Aluminium yolk, lames and blades and assemble the armour, spacers and interscrews. It took ages. This was a second fit. Having decided it all fitted together, I took all apart again.

   The next step was to cover the lames and blades with shiny leather. In this case special finished lamb.The lamb gave the Aluminium substrate more body. This job was a trial of epic proportions. The finish had to be just so as it is the final finish. The interscrew holes had to be re-drilled and cleaned up. Only then could I reassemble the pouldrons to ensure they still fitted the articulated. I should not that worried they fitted fine. The blades were covered and fitted to the sleeve via the supporting plate. I should say at this time that clock was ticking, not because Mark had created a deadline but because I was to debut Savage Opress at MCM Birmingham three weeks from the first fitting. 

   I had a little leather over from the pouldrons so I fugured to would be worthwhile recovering the siliver elements of the boots. Part way through the molding of the toe boxes I was thinking I had made a mistake however more tea and some perseverance and the job came together. We decided the kilt needed better support so I added eight heavy duty poppers which would secure the kilt to the tunic very securely. I got some rubber coloured paint [Tamika] the paint out the heads of the poppers. 

   The final job was the vambraces [forearm armour]. Card, pencil and scissors created maquettes of the vambraces. I wanted the floating effect but had to compromise the size of the pieces. It that gravity thing again as well as the ergonomics of the piece in the real world. I was able to used the original leather arm bracers as a base for the Aluminium, soon to be covered in leather vambraces. I created a vent in the cuffs of the original bracers to make access easier and to be able close the cuff tighter if needed. The maquette was made into a pattern; the Aluminium cut and cleaned, the flat Aluminium rolled to the desire circumference, covered with leather and fitted to the bracers with spacers for the flying effect. The final piece is going to be completed with latex gloves is Opress colours but with the addition of claws, in the meantime I made a couple of plates for the back of the hands, finished to complement the vambraces. That that was it finished. I made a display stand to use at MCM. All done with a couple of days to go. The tricky bit is to stop titivating the piece. I was lucky to have other pieces to distract me from Savage O.

   Mark lent me the Latex Savage Opress mask. The display stand was made to hold the bust on which the mask was fitted. Savage looked a bit round shouldered at MCM but it did not stop a constant stream of folks taking pictures and talking about it. The word is that there is a Savage Opress in Northern Ireland and one being made in Scotland. Mark's is the only one in England and Wales. 

          

 Mark took delivery of Savage Opress on 8th December. We made a tweak to one of the lames. I am sure he was pleased with it. I came away with a nice bottle of Sherry to boot. 

          

Isambard Kingdom Brunel !!

    It has been a bit strange since the weekend. I worked very hard to get ready for the Comicon in Birmingham followed the next weekend by a local event on Saturday in Ashby the which book ended by Steampunk events on the Friday and Saturday nights. Throw in a visit to suppliers, a quite pint with my Movember brothers and a drop in my friends shop to have a glass of bubbly to celebrate their 25 years  in their shoe in Swadlincote and I suppose it is no wonder I am a bit pooped. On Tuesday I was in London on a discovery mission about new technology to mix in with my traditional style pieces. I cannot say anymore about that except that it is very interesting.

   The Steampunk events were a hoot. The Saturday do was at Snibson Discovery Museum in Coalville. Click HERE for their website. It was not just a gathering but it also had several small performances and one grand performance. It was sort of a promenade performance as the audience moved for one tableau to the next. We were led to the theatre through the machine hall of the museum escorted by one of the miners [who as a day job explain the mining equipment to the visitors]. Many of the exhibits were wrapped up as if mothballed. The miners script went along the lines of the machines being of another age and our failure to understand how they worked or what they did. However they were preserved so they must have been important. It is difficult to relay the impact of the grand performance but I shall try. Snibson is a disused coal mine. The winding gear and many of workings and railway tracks are still present. It was a pitch black, cold November night outside as we were led from the theater were we had just experienced a performance relating to the memories contained the Cast Iron and how to extract those memories. As we made our way through external part of the Cast Iron memories interactive pieces, our way lined by braziers stoked up by the biting wind. We gathered in front of  a gantry which crossed the railway tracks. A young lady gave us two soprano operatic solos. Very powerful from one so small. Hanging from the gantry was a large screen. As the operatic element came to a close a gentleman on the other side of the gantry gave a spoken piece. As he delivered his oration a montage of images splashed onto the make shift screen. The oration was in form of a advertisement for an imagined company concern with future of power. Coal, history, power were all heaped into the performance. It sounded to me like a political manifesto being delivered. The climax of the oration was a real locomotive bursting through the screen. It was a very powerful piece. We were led through the darkness of the goods yard to the dimly lit museum. On entering the museum we were presented with a red pouch with contain something hard. On inspection it was a piece of coal. It was quite moving. With the museum to ourselves we took in the galleries and drifted back to the foyer where a second helping of food had appeared. A smashing three piece combo [organ, accordion and drums] were quietly playing traditional English country tunes in an up beat tempo. In side rooms there were exhibits of ray guns with the inventor along side to explain the up side and down sides of each piece. Next door was a several pieces from the museums collection of clothes. The pieces were corsets from the 18th and 19th century.
   I spotted a couple who looked vaguely familiar. Given that I went to an event were I fully expected to know no one at all it was a bit of a surprise to recognise a face. The couple turned out to be Cumbrian's we had met on a BMW motorcycle weekend twenty some years ago. They were attending another Steampunk event the next evening so I arrange to go to that as well and take my good lady along. An altogether splendid evening.

  The least said about the Saturday craft market the better. There had been a Steampunk event on all day at the Space centre Leicester. Click HERE for their website. We only attended the evening element. The rocket tower lent itself to a bunch to retro-futurists. There was performance poetry [John Cooper Clark's job is safe], a kind of musical hall witty banter and comedic songs element and a mentalist. In another space was a series of Victorian gaming tables, a type of shove ha'penny, bagatelle and pontoon. The event was collecting for the Movember men's health charity which had ended on the same day. Click HERE for the Movember website and find out what it is all about. The night end with a set from a Steampunk band "The men that will not be blamed for nothing". They were raucous, witty and odd in equal measure. Anyone that can do a tune about IKB [Isambard Kingdom Brunel] is okay with me.

Turn the sound up and click play.......



   We met our buddies, made some new buddies, had a few beers - Moore Beer in fact, an homage to the great Sir Patrick Moore and locally brewed by Belvoir Brewery and had a jolly good time was had by all.

Thanks you and God save the Queen.