Episode 86 'Average work day at the Museum'

Sod off, I've been on holiday.

And now, as I very gradually slouch a little lower in my lazy stupor, I have almost succumbed to day time television; and I'll tell you why. I have just returned from a beautiful and glorious jaunt around parts of Europe, but now realise that I need to jump start my creative mojo. I mean, do you know how long it takes for me to write these bloody things or paint a picture? A day! (this is, however, calculated by adding up all the twenty minute sessions from the past three months). Either way, it's just bananas.

Although, today I did find an inspiring saviour and I'm baffled to why I hadn't listened to it before: the Skwigly Podcast (above). Why am I only discovering it now? Tell me that! I've got 29 episodes to catch up on now, so Come Dine With Me can go f**k itself (no wait! I'll still have it on in the background). The Skwigly website is something that I was aware of but hadn't fully explored, mainly due to my arch nemesis and fully capable distraction YouTube. But these podcasts are really great and I would highly recommend them to anybody who is interested in all things animated.

A perplexed woodpecker

I've decided to pull my finger out (excuse the term) and finally get my British wildlife paintings finished. Admittedly it is hard to distinguish your own style, especially if you want to sell them in a card range for example. I have noticed the surplus in watercolour and fine-liner card designs, usually of quirky animals with flailing limbs, which is why it proves quite the task to be original. But my style has always been the same and I've been meaning to do this for bloody years, so I can't change my stripes now! Here are a few of them...

A ravenous fox

A courageous field mouse

A patient kingfisher

I don't think I will ever understand, or ceased to be surprised at, the career tangents of a model maker and where they might end up next. Duly noted; there are many aspects of model making, however, going from set dressing on Newzoids to constructing mounts at Manchester Museum just simply baffles the mind. It certainly shows that in the majority of cases (and this is by no means a snub) you really don't need a CV or even a degree; it's who you bloody know. And in this case, I know Alan!

It is really great to remain in the model making industry, one way or another, and I do have my good friend Alan to thank for that. He introduced me to John; the sugar-daddy of the workshop at Manchester Museum. He has furthered my skills within the workshop, of which I have been very grateful. So for now I am happy to have that option of working in a non-animation environment, because it's still me making things. 

The job was, in fact, to make mounts for the objects in the collection. These  were made from acrylic sheets and reformed in bespoke ways to fit whatever shape the object in question needed. So for example, the wooden 'mallet' required a couple of padded slots on the mount so that it wouldn't slide off. It was a combination of acrylic rods, holes and bending of the acrylic sheets that allowed us to create each individual mount. 

To bend the acrylic sheets I used a strip heater, which was basically a table fitted hot wire. Levers on the side of this 'table' allowed you to lift and bend the sheet over (to your chosen angle) once it was hot enough. Leave it to set for a few minutes and hey presto! Admittedly it was a repetitive process, but because each mount was so specific to the ancient object it was never tedious. I was the Indiana Jones of the workshop. Yeah, you heard.

The Pharaoh sarcophagus was really the paramount object of the Egyptian collection that needed mine and Johns full attention. To make things doubly problematic, it was in two pieces! Madness ensued. It didn't really, it was relatively straight forward. The folks from conservation (keepers and preservers of all the artefacts within the museum) were very impressed with how the sarcophagus looked upon the mount. It wasn't quite finished before I left, but the acrylic hooks and MDF 'shelves were in place. I was rather pleased with it all. 

The video above, Amaro and Walden's Joyride, was something that the Skwigly podcast actually recommended as they talked about new and upcoming animated shorts. This is such a great idea; the filming alone, in and around the remote control car, is an amazing feat. Then you add in the 2D characters and it just becomes a joyride to watch. 

I was pondering whether I should divulge in to all the incredible panels, trailers and movie news from this years San Diego Comic Con. But I could be here for ages, for there were treats galore! Of course, the highlights were the Batman v Superman trailer and the Suicide Squad trailer. I think there was a pretty sweet Deadpool trailer too, but it's not been released online just yet (not a HD version anyway, just a bumbling iphone version). But there was something rather special from the Star Wars panel. Not only did all the cast members appear, including the legacy trio, to much gusto, but JJ and co premièred a reel that showed us a little more from The Force Awakens camp. Take a look guys, it's absolutely bloody marvellous. 

And finally, watch a few episodes of the Clangers because they really are amazing. Factory have done such a spectacular job on sustaining the sentimental value, but also pumped some 21st century knitomation (this will become a word; knitted + animation) into these wonderful characters. Follow the link to BBC iplayer HERE and get involved. Just remember that I made the cotton wool trees!