Along those lines, I've been doing some Star Wars "Metal Earth" kits. They're fun, though the results can vary pretty wildly.

Vary wildly because of the quality from the source, or the skill/patience of the assembler?

A little from column A, a little from column B.

There are some models with joints that I found extremely difficult to make solid. Maybe I just missed a good way to do it, or maybe they were just poor joints. Either way, my TIE fighter has wiggly wings.

The Star Destroyer, however, is solid as a brick. The AT-AT and Millennium Falcon are almost as good.

It's also a function of how solid the eventual shape is. The Star Destroyer is very solid and angular, so it's got an inherent advantage. The TIE is a hard design to do; I just don't think they sufficiently overcame that difficulty.

I can see the TIE would be a tough shape, usually the best tact is to not make the joint where two planes meet, but mold that transition and move the assembly joint out a little from the junction. They probably figure these won't be played with like toys, but usually only moved to show someone or for dusting. Or they think you might get frustrated and buy another kit. :haha:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8537/2...c33f6688_z.jpg


Made using a triangle hole punch and the packaging from a phone case and screen protector.

It's only taped on the inside, so it looks sort of loose.

I like it.

I like the names of the shapes he uses.

Dodecaheterotrimultipassadronagon.

More with the triangle punch.

From a cereal box:

https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8294/2...749f73aa_z.jpg
Cardboard Rhombic Hexecontahedron

https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8285/2...7178a028_z.jpg
Cardboard Rhombic Hexecontahedron

And from the lids of delivery food containers:

https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8133/2...1ff996b1_z.jpg
Silver Rhombic Hexecontahedron

https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8551/2...5dbba4a0_z.jpg
Silver Rhombic Hexecontahedron

Proof home cooking is harmful to art.;)

Noyce.

More hole punch art.

Ghirardelli chocolate bar wrappers hole-punched, taped together on the inside, colored with Sharpies, taped on the outside, and then recolored, but only the squiggly lines.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5693/3...0737a045_z.jpg
https://c8.staticflickr.com/1/349/31...ebb73d41_z.jpg
https://c3.staticflickr.com/1/653/31...ed403e57_z.jpg

And another, made out of some crafting metal sheets my mom had been saving since she was in high school:

https://c8.staticflickr.com/6/5756/3...b474a1b6_z.jpg

It changes from silver to copper colored, based on viewing angle.

Damn, HM, you make Job look like he had too many cups of coffee. ;)

Whoa!

I was gonna 'Whoa', but, then I 'Dayummed'.

What Grav said.

Thanks!

Made from an old electronics book cover.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2838/3...f720e31b_z.jpg

That's an interesting pattern, the semi-random pattern on the cover leaves a doubt what you'll end up with. :thumb:

This pattern is a bit more regular:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4227/3...0477f1e4_z.jpg

Like the stripes. Kinda mesmerizing.

What was that part of this?

The PREIT annual report (rescued from my dad's recycling).

Annual reports used to be a good source for stuff like this, but they've mostly cut back on glossy presentation. Still get a nice one occasionally, though.

Ah yes, lots of stripes, brilliant. :notworthy

Made out of the queens and jokers from two of these decks. The patterns are lenticular images, and change based on the angle of view.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4412/...f2d4d625_z.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4334/...d3bd97cf_z.jpg
Click for Lenticular Ball Video

Wedding present for my sister. one of those chains of LED lights with a battery pack. I put icosahedrons on each light.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4458/...ac9fc08e_z.jpg

In it's box. The stuff that looks orange is white, but the lights affected the white balance.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4482/...6b6acb92_z.jpg

With the outside lights off.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4505/...27d8db98_z.jpg

With the box closed, the light still shines through.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4450/...049022c6_z.jpg

That's crazy, it looks like a lot of work.

Christmas presents:

The pattern is from a linoleum block print my brother made.

For my siblings' families:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4688/...863a0085_z.jpg


For my mother:

The box:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4733/...b9ffc920_z.jpg

Inside, a Sierpinski Tetrahedron; a classic fractal.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4737/...0c94c358_z.jpg


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4594/...733ea788_z.jpg


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4640/...6ae195b3_z.jpg

Nice. :thumb:

I feel like we must have asked this before, but have you ever posted any of these on etsy?

Happy Monkey, your work is amazing, and intriguing. The best kind of convergence of art and science.

You're doing great work, and I imagine you get much satisfaction from both the process and the finished piece.

Thanks! No I haven't sold any of them.

Your maths amaze!

A Serpinski tetrahedron framed in cubes????

No cubes. Tetrahedrons all the way down.

:notworthy

I figured out what you were referring to - the wires in the picture of it in the box. They do look like cubes, now that you mention it. But that's just the angle; it's the exact same wires as in the other pics.

Thank you

I like the Sierpinski Tetrahedron. I've only sen these previously in candy corn.

I found some mirror (actual glass mirror) equilateral triangle self-adhesive craft tiles, and made my old standby rhombic hexecontahedron.


https://farm1.staticflickr.com/973/4...f344aca7_z.jpg

Been a while...Noyce!

That should gift some interesting effects. :thumb:

Another one:


First the plans:
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1741/...ee8357ab_z.jpg

The smallest diagram is a layout of pentagons relative to triangles.

The biggest one indicates a route from one end (pentagon 1) to the other (pentagon 5), in red, and the beginning of a mirror of it in orange.

The medium one shows all five loops from pentagon 1 to pentagon 5 and back.


Then some steps:
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1741/...6d9499c1_z.jpg
Paper triangles (patterned and blue, back to back), embedded in tape, and held together with monofilament.

Following the plan, each pair of paper triangles was taped to the string, with care taken as to which side of the line it should be on, if the patterned side were face up. They are labeled with which pentagon they are part of.

The bottle rings designate pentagon five, the top of the model.

There is one extra triangle labeled five, due to a mistake. It was removed and repurposed as the model was completed.


https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1723/...dc4d66b5_z.jpg


Starting with each of the triangles marked '1', start to match the nearby triangles with matching numbers. Wherever there's a figure 8 in the plans, cross over the monofilament. Temporarily tape the triangles together. Add unlinked triangles where appropriate (there are ten triangles with no monofilament through them).

Not pictured: Keep following the crossovers and matching the pentagon numbers from the plans, as full pentagons are formed, remove the temporary tape, and tape them together permanently.



And the final product:


https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1741/...67b941da_z.jpg

I can't even.

Did you invent this procedure or learn it from someone else?

I made it up.

You should patent or copyright it. The foundation for the HM School of Tape Creations. :thumb:

http://www.cellar.org/attachment.php...1&d=1072653235


come quite a way since 2003

Just obsessive, once I get an idea in my head.


My dad wants me to write a book... But I'm pretty sure that the instructions I write do more to make people think it's extremely difficult than make them think they could do it. Not a good start for a school.

Fuck.

Do you have an Instagram or any other outlet for getting exposure for this work? This is a *unique contribution to human culture* --which is the pinnacle, really, of achievement. You should definitely write a book, IMHO, FWIW. I think you could get a cult following. People like to do all kind of hard things, like learning the ukulele, or whatever.

At the very least--and a very cool scenario-- someone will discover your book in the future, 100 years, 500 years from now. Your contribution to human culture will be immortal. Children in classrooms on space stations will be studying you.

Just Flickr. Hopefully that remains viable now that it's being bought again.
I have a couple of short (<10 secs) videos on Youtube.

Are you seeking fame?

Not really. Especially if it requires any effort on my part.

Yeah, that's what I thought. :yesnod:
You're already expending a ton of time and effort making these things.

This year's Christmas gifts.


One is made with cherry wood tape (real wood, not wood pattern), with green tape peeking through the joints.


Two have color-changing units from children's toys.


And the rest are stars made from the lids of Maggiano's takeout tins left over from a catered lunch.


https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4837/...ab56a282_z.jpg

Cool, I see the silver ones have hanging strings. Are the Maggiano's lids like a heavy aluminum foil?

Light cardboard, silvered on ones side with very thin foil, along the lines of these.

Ah, OK. Thanks.