This squid-like creature, for example, came about after rummaging in one of my junk boxes. I spotted an interestingly-shaped maple syrup bottle and the word 'squid!' popped into my head. Now, that may be because I'd watched a Stephen Fry-fronted BBC TV programme on mythical creatures (including the kraken) a few days before. But who knows? All I do know is that once the idea was in my head, it set me off looking for more squid-ish components.
And soon, I had the basics of a structure.
As I've said in previous posts, things can change as you progress and one thing that definitely changed was the squid's 'tail'. After a clumsy accident, I'd recently knocked the propeller (an old computer fan) off the front of my mad steampunk train (see here) and realised that (a) I had a better front for the train and (b) the propeller fitted better on the squid.
These happy accidents happen sometimes.
So, I added some greeblies, made two 'grabbers' from the nozzles of hand soap dispensers, and gave it a black primer undercoat. I then gave it a light spray of rattle can bronze to create an underlying metallic effect. But what colour to paint it?
Squid - like all cephalopods - have cells in their skin called chromatophores that allow them to change colour at will. Sometimes this is to express their mood or to flash a warning signal. Some scientists speculate that it may even be a simple form of communication. Like their cousins, the octopuses and cuttlefish, squid are pretty bright - some say smarter than a domestic pet dog.
As my squid is a machine it needed a fixed colour so I chose one that wild squid often display - a kind of pinkish/orangey/coral colour. So I started to build up the layers of paint and ink washes.
I then made a custom base from heavy foamboard and a few junk fish to swim alongside.
And we're done!
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