scrapartoz

great job Gibbo . I think you will be making these for family and friends for years to come!

Gibbo and SF Duck..........No worries mates!

Gibbo....... the inspection went very well , The parents noticed apects of both horse and rider that were personal and known ONLY to them....cant say much more ,......other than they were very happy. I have allready given a square pole and sub structure to a concretor. his engineer will design a slab that will have 4 lifting points . In 5 years time the club intends to move (including the sculpture) So it will be a crane job , and I will not be involved in that shift. However , one week after the inner square post is installed by the concretor I will take my 25 (i think ) piece horse etc and slip my frame pole over the top of the one in concrete . then I will do a small tac welds to hold the 25 pieces as I assemble them. The rest will be history!!!!!!!!(spider infestation ,rust and vandalism) I will use 2 'utes' and a trailer to ransport the sculpture and a Gen / Welder combo as well as tressles / ladders etc cheers

thank you Dick(Seldom) and Michael Yes the sculpture still is made from 25 seperate slip together elements . As I grow older I imagine the number will increase as my strength fails .i estimate the total weight to be around 500 - 600 kg .I try to keep each part less than 30 kg . I have now purchased good quality step ladders and expanding tressle work platforms so the assembly is less difficult lifting overhead etc ...........yes we all gunna get old .....may as well adapt as it happens cheers Andrew

thanks whirly....No ive given that idea the flick. the parents and I are very happy with the current stance. Im going to install it at the Shepparton pony Club on the Australia Day (26 Jan) Long weekend. Im worried that the temperature might make another Total Fire Ban which would make it an offence (and stupid) to weld it together on the site. I might see if I can get the whole area wet down (the dry dead grass) by a fire truck. The club intends to place one huge log under the horse as the obstacle being jumped. this will hide most of the central pole. Gibbo ....where would any of us be without VB longnecks! ( an Australian Beer)

Thank you Vaughn T , Razzputin, Gibbo and Jacob for those kind words. Well ......its nearly over. Today the parents do a final inspection. Hopefully the mounting structure will be insalled in concrete in the next week. Here are some shots taken at home ready for the inspection:( excuse the photography i am just playing with the foto editor programme) cheers Andrew

Ironman50. Yes ! looking for the right bit is the only 'fun' part of the entire process ( other than drinking beer , and staring at the sculpture: planing the next bit / or finding mistakes in the work) most5 of it is hard work, punctuated by ecstacy when you see something you 'got right' Vaughn T. im sorry, I dont have the ability you describe. I draw sketches of basic gesture , build a metal internal frame based on those sketches, then I search for ONE part ( maybee ONE nostril) and on it goes from there! Jack Evers Thank you so much for those kind words!. One of my biggest fears with this project was that I might appear as a 'pretender' , and that the work was not "true" to horse or habit. thank you again.

Thank you Iron Wolf and Nelson. I hope you all got a good break from lifes dramas and are planning your "next big thing" cheers Andrew

awsome hammer and great video.. is it air or hydraulic powered and how do you make it fire in multiple hits please.

thanks everyone. i hope you all have a great holiday! andrew

Thank you : Mat, David, & Yves. yes ...the aim is to try to put 'life' into the work . For me this is achieved by avoiding bilateral symmetry and showing , well .... imperfection rather than a perfectly balanced form you could cut in half and have a mirror image. For me, it is the movement away from perfect form that makes it look 'alive' Have a good break!!!! cheers Andrew

Thank you Beth, Neil , Dick and Tbarn. here are some shots of Taylor mounted on Jaffa. hope u like cheers Andrew

Hi folks holidays are coming soon (cant wait ) Here is some progress . I must add more hair and helmet straps and she is nearly finished after a coat of fish oil and an elephant dust bath. cheers

well done , looks great. given the weight, does it require a strong wind to get movement in the "bells"? or do they rotate on their wire / string against each other.

Thanks Phil, Whirly and Alecko . Ive been having problems posting on this site is anyone else having trouble. there is a new window on bottom right of screen saying " with 1 checked post (arrow), then ( Box): Go .......................virus or bug?????????

Well here is the start of Taylor's head . Lots more to do!!!!

Thanks DoubleY and Ted T Ifeel elated when people who know horses ( I dont) say this is a fair representation of a horse. Ted T ..........Im not going to use your head as a model as you are nearly as pig ugly as me! (Dont knock the baldies)

Thank you Dale, Knots, Whirly and Swifden Ive been collecting bits that might make the face of a pretty 16 year old girl . I will show you them in the next week. Im hoping to capture youth , concentration and beauty . We shall see ....................................................................(fingers crossed)

Thank you Seldom I hope you continue to enjoy the show! Alecko 7 I hope that the photos will be of some help to other artists who are working with scrap metal for the first time or others that are a bit more ambitious and want to make a BIG ....................something?????? . The proceedure is the same. here is progress. ...... I have been avoiding the rider's( Taylor) head as I think this will be my biggest challenge . I guess I betta pull my socks up and get into it!!!!!! cheers Andrew

THANK YOU Dodge and WD&MLTeach for the kind words. Jawno ......Yes I agree it would be a safety nightmare and if you made it safe for the public it might look crap. I just thought of a solution : make a monkey puppet and put it in a cage so the public cant hurt themselves.....??????. maybee Here is the development of back and chest. The 333 numbers have some signifigance to the buyers and had to be included.

Thanks 4 that compliment ! Im not sure it is deserved. If my art can put a smile on someones face then I have suceeded in my goal.

Dont know how many horseshoes. The ones on the riders thigh are miniature with the names of family members and friends stamped into the horseshoe. The arm flexi joints are locked at this stage, the wrist is not. The arm slides horizontaly into a housing in the shoulder and on each hand there is a steel pin that will connect into the horses neck. Once its all connected I will weld it all up. The idea of kinetic art I have thought about. Given the flexability I could leave in a human form sculpture I have toyed with the idea of a marionette. with wires going up to a pair of 'H' frames ( maybe held by BIG hands) These frame 'controllers ' would be moved by a set of 6 - 8 small pnuematic rams. which would connect to a control box via a bundle of 1/4" pnumatic "spagetti" lines. what doyou think????????????

No worries Seldom, Thanks! Here is the start of back and chest . there will be a number carrier arrangement on the back and chest.

Thank you Seldom , here is more of the rider, ignore the hand position as they are still flexible and just hanging in place. Today I am going try to do the waist , hips and shoulder line.

Hi Sam , Is that you in the "yowie suit" , what is the calibre of that possum gun? .308 '' or .50" cal Andrew