CROC - Centre for the Repurposing of Ornamental Cogs. A steampunk diorama

[CloggyDog]

Back in the spring, Bassett-Lowke announced a competition in SteamPaper (the monthly e-newsletter detailing steampunk happenings around the UK and beyond) 

 

20 applicants would be selected to receive a bundle of items to then construct a steampunk diorama of fixed size 50cm x 50cm by the middle of June. 

 

I was one of the lucky 20 and started sketching ideas based on the bundle items (loco, length of track, 2 resin buildings and some paints) and the contents of my various crates and boxes and folders. 

 

I used a spare Ikea Lack side table as an 'instant baseboard' overlayed with 2mm eva foam sheet and with a 5mm foamcore display box surround. 

 

Scouring the hard drive threw up the Scalescenes factory kit I bought/downloaded back in 2007 for Ripper Street, and I also had some Wuppertal Schwebebahn laser-cut portals from Joswood.de, along with assorted Hornby track and stock always intended for a steampunk micro. 

Edited June 13, 2021 by CloggyDog
added a link to Steampaper

[CloggyDog]

The premise behind my diorama is a gentle poke at the 'just glue some cogs on it and call it steampunk' meme - having been active in the steampunk scene for over a decade, I've long 'outgrown' the need to have decorative gears on All The Things

 

So the Centre for the Repurposing of Ornamental Cogs* (CROC) was born. It takes those shiny decorative and Ornamental gears of no discernable purpose and fettles, greases and transforms them into good machine-ready gears, up for any type of engineering challenge. 

* and yes, I know it should be gears not cogs, that's another subtle dig

 

Track was laid, warehouse and danglebahn track built, cobbles (a texture from the net, printed at home) laid down and it all started to come together. 

[CloggyDog]

For the danglewagen, I wanted to repurpose some old Hornby 4-wheel coach bodies, adding the danglebits and a rear-mounted boiler/cylinder from Lego, mounted on a new frame of 4mm Evergreen I beam. 

 

A new window cut in the end allows the driver to see where he's going. 

[CloggyDog]

And it's pretty much there. A couple of open wagons loaded with gears (both ornamental inbounds and functional outbound), plus the odd pile of them scattered around the place and a little scenic tittivation with grass clumps and the like. 

 

I'll hopefully find out later this week how I did and get to see some of the other entries via Basset-Lowke's various social media feeds. 

 

 

[Clive Mortimore]

Yo Alan

 

 

[MarkSG]

Brilliant. I love the repurposing of stock acquired from the North Western Railway. Somehow, that fits in very well with the theme.

[Ian Simpson]

I love the boilers on those overhead coaches! Looks as if a Seuthe smoke unit would fit in them, too.

[steve1]

How did you get on? 

 

steve

[Pokemonprime]

and here I thought I'd never like anything involving that new Basset-Lowke stuff. Wonderful and cheerful work.

[CloggyDog]

On 25/06/2021 at 08:44, steve1 said:

How did you get on? 

 

steve

 

I didn't win, but had fun designing and building CROC and the cost was pretty negligible (using up stuff I already had to hand, including bits already pre-allocated to a steampunk build). 

 

The other entries (9 in total from the look of things, including mine) can be found on Bassett-Lowke's various social media feeds (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) and are all to a very good standard, with some fun ideas and clever use of the supplied items. 

Edited July 2, 2021 by CloggyDog