Model making material tips for students - Part 2

These are some of the basic materials used for model making in D 1 & 2 stages and some tips how to use them.

Wood:

Bass wood is better than Balsa wood. Balsa wood tends to warp and distort when it absorbs humidity and exposed to sunlight. Make a library of various linear (Sticks) and planer elements (Wider sticks). Use Xato knif to cut these. Available in different widths/thicknesses and sizes. Can find at art supply stores and lumber stores for thicker planes or pieces.

Chipboard:

Use Xato knif to cut these. Models don't end up looking as nice as when made with wood or museum board. Available in different thicknesses - 1 ply, 2 ply, etc.

Museum Board

Museum boards are available in different colors. White and Grey particularly look clean when a model is complete. Available in different thicknesses - 1 ply, 2 ply, etc.

Plexi Glass

See plexi 1o1 tutorial.

Glues

This is a tricky thing. You want a glue that will give a clean finish, doesn't leave glue marks & not messy, that will not take too long to dry and if you have sensitivities to certain fumes like me, you want to find a glue that will not give allergies.

• For Wood - Tacky Glue, Elmer Glue, TiteBond II, or any other Commercial wood Glue

• For Chip Board & Museum Board - These get dirty fast and you need to wash your hand periodically when working with these material. Otherwise you will leave nasty finger prints all over the panels. Tacky Glue or Elmer Glue works for these

• For Plexiglass and Acetates - Glues with Cyanoacrylate - Loctite, Zap-a-gap, EZBond

There are many other variety of materials out there in the market. But this should get you started.

Model making material tips for students - Part 1

Some of the things you need to get started;-

• Sketch Book

• Xacto Knife & Refill blades - Trick is to use sharp blades, always. This will give a nice sharp cut and you will less likely to get injured. Believe it or not, blunt blades are known to cause more injuries than the sharp once due to slipping.
  

Image from : http://lemurking.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/xacto.jpg

• Self Healing Cutting Mat

Image from : http://salestores.com/stores/images/images_747/GBM3648.jpg

• Non-slip metal ruler - Has a cork or foam stripe on the reverse side to stop slipping.

Image from : http://www.custom-wholesale.co.uk/upload/upimg1/Printable-Centimeter-Ruler-9041.jpg

• Mechanical Pencils - 0.3mm, 0.5mm, 0.7mm & 0.9mm

• T - Square

Image from : http://www.drawger.com/show.php?show_id=32&image_id=981

• T Rulers - You can use this to prevent injuries when cutting Wood, Plexi and boards

Image from: http://www.cngoldmonkey.com/images/pro/2009112511716.jpg

Vizcaya Museum & Gardens

Vizcaya Museum and Garden is another important landmark in Miami. Located almost bordering downtown, this beautiful garden and its museum are magnificent. One simply does not expect to find such an amazing garden in a metropolitan area like this. The entrance is only a few blocks away from the highway but once you enter the property you no longer feel that you were just on a highway 2 minutes ago.

** Tip- Students can gain entrance to Vizcaya at a discounted rate of $ 10 by showing the student ID. Trust me, you are going to appreciate what you see for the money you pay.

I started the tour by viewing the main house. Constructed in the early 1900's was the winter residence of James Deering from 1916 up until his time of death in 1925. Destroyed during a hurricane in 1926, it was restored in 1933 - 1934. Later Deering's heirs sold the house and the garden to Dade County below market value to be turned into a public museum. It opened to the public in 1953.

Images by Manori Sumanasinghe (C) 2010

Originally Vizcaya was 180 acres, but after Deering's death and presumable subsequent trouble with finances led the majority of the land to be sold for real estate development. In 1955, the county bought back some of the land from the village and integrated it back to the Garden and the Museum. When you are at the museum, you can find the maps and pictures from the original estate.

Images by Manori Sumanasinghe (C) 2010

The main house is still in very beautiful condition. Credit should be given to those who worked on the restorations all these years. Most of the original fixtures and almost all original furniture are still on display at the museum. Photography is not allowed inside the main house. I am not at all surprised about this considering how old all the wall paintings, furniture, ornaments and rugs, etc. are. It reminds me of a small palace or a European villa.

Image by Manori Sumanasinghe (C) 2010

There were 3 designers involved in the construction of the house and the garden. Paul Chalfin supervised the project as the Artistic coordinator. The Architect for the house and other buildings was F. Burral Hoffman and Diego Suarez was the landscape architect. Together they created one of the most treasured architectural masterpieces in Miami.

Science Museum, Universe and possibilities

As a part of the local attractions we were taking my parents to, we visited the Science Museum of Miami. It is more fun for Children I would say but we, the young at heart (heheh), much enjoyed the trip as well.

There were a few shows particularly educative and fun for the kids like the Lazer planetarium show and the Science or Magic show. I love planetariums because the universe is always inspirational. The Planetarium in Miami is no match to the Planetarium in New York yet it triggers the same inspirations and emotions.

I can't help but to wonder a few times a week what is out there. All those millions and billions of stars, potential "suns" that have solar systems just like ours. They must be having at least a handful of "live" planets with intelligent beings. We can't be the only ones out here alone. I wonder, what kinds of languages must exist in this universe, what kind of species are out there, what do they do?

One way to find out is to have an exoprojection. An exoprojection is an Out-of-Body Experience that takes place in out space, beyond the atmosphere of our earth. There are many recorded accounts of these experiences; among the most notable are books by Dr. Waldo Vieira, Robert Monroe, Robert Crookall, and Ernesto Bozzano. I found this article written by Wagner Alegretti on Exoprojections in the IAC Website.

I would love to have an exoprojection and visit another world. It would be quite amazing to be able to see and learn about life outside of our little blue planet and how they do things. Imagine, if we can see if they have superior technology that can help us help people better here on earth, that would be just fantastic. I would love to learn about architecture outside of earth... exoarchitecture - not as in computers but exoarchitecture as in architecture outside of our planet. That would be a pretty cool thing to study...

Coral Castle - Miami, FL

Happy 2010! I am hoping this year would bring new challenges and that everyone would find strength to face them successfully.

Also, Thank you for visiting my blog last year and continuing to visit.... I'm really enjoying this....

On the 2nd of January, we visited one of the local attractions here in Miami - the Coral Castle. Latvian American Edward Leedskalnin built it all by himself. Built entirely out of stone, there are a couple of megaliths and many beautiful stone furniture. The history of the Coral Castle is as interesting as the things you find there...

Coral Castle, FL - Images by Manori Sumanasinghe (C) 2010

There are megaliths, polaris telescope, water well, fountain and a sun dial. If you are in Miami, I would recommend you to take a trip to the Coral Castle and I am sure you would enjoy it....

Last week's trip to NYC

Thursday 17th of December

So we visited the glorious Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is the 6th or the 7th time I've visited there during the past two and a half years. Its just an amazing place. I love going there, each time. There are new things to see each time I go there and never get tired of looking at paintings, sculptures and various artifacts.

We spent a lot of time in the Egyptian section this visit. Over 4000 years old, its amazing how they must have created all those amazing structures. For a long time it was speculated that huge armies of slaves built the pyramids and the great temples. Archeologists and experts now say these workers who built these great structures were skilled craftsmen who voluntarily worked at these sites. Looking at the artifacts at the MET, I am not surprised if all the workers who built them are skilled and trained craftsmen.

Images by Manori Sumanasinghe (C) 2009

Then we went over to the Greek and Roman Section. Its almost retrocognetive...

Images by Manori Sumanasinghe (C) 2009

Friday 18th of December

On Friday we visited the Rockefeller center observation deck. The panoramic view of New York city is quite amazing.

Images by Manori Sumanasinghe (C) 2009

One of these days I should try and figure out how to make a panoramic pictures....

Then I showed the Times Square to my parents.

Times Square - Images by Manori Sumanasinghe (C) 2009

We walked to the Grand Central from there, my favorite building in New York. I have an entire post about Grand Central - read it here.

Saturday 19th of December

We visited the American Museum of Natural History & Hayden planetarium on Saturday. If you are a student, don't forget to get your student rate. Also the IMAX space show and the Hyden planetarium are a must see...!!

Wolves - Image by Manori Sumanasinghe (C) 2009

Dinosaur Fosils - Images by Manori Sumanasinghe (C) 2009

I'm back

Sorry I didn't post for a while... again!!! My final exams are finally over and my parents finally arrived in the US for the first time. So its time to sit back and blog again... :)

While I was in NYC last week with my parents I watched 2 randomly selected movies that had an alien back-theme, which now looking back is a kind of a coincidence... because we visited the AMNH and the Planetarium also. It was a good cosmic dose ;) .... The movie "Contact" had such a wonderful concept to it, it was amazing. if you haven't watched it already, I would highly recommend it to you. There was an awesome line there, here it is;-
Young Ellie: Dad, do you think there's people on other planets?
Ted Arroway: I don't know, Sparks. But I guess I'd say if it is just us... seems like an awful waste of space.

That is such a cool line. Its something to think about.... We could potentially be surrounded by hundreds and thousands of other planets that has life on them, and they could be of all different shapes and sizes. They could have total different everything that we can't even imagine of them...

Think of all the possibilities ...!! What if there are consciousnesses out there who can inhabit machines? And what are defined as machines in these places? (Strictly speaking we are also using a very organic machine)... Ahhh !! the endless possibilities....

I was thinking about all the movies that came out this year with stories that has Aliens in them. Its so cool because it will be so natural for all the kids who are growing up now to know about existence of life forms outside of our little earth.

I used to get so excited thinking about the universe when I was a kid and at 29, I still get as excited as much and I'm glad. Since I can't afford to go to space yet and I don't think I will be an astronaut like I wanted to be when I was 15, I have to settle in for seeing the movies and stuff... better yet, an Exoprojection: an out of body experience where a person travels to outer space...!!

Happy Holidays and catch you around soon....