HOVERCYCLE

[CANSO]

I want to share some of my son's creations. He is in grade 10. As part of his "Career studies" he had to find universities and colleges offering a program for him (industrial design) and visit a couple of them. For one of this visits he prepared a portfolio with his works. I kind of "pushed" him to include some of the models he did and especially those scratched or kitbashed. Below is one of this models, still in progress, but I hope it will be finished one day (sooner or later ). The complete presentation is his own work (Power Point):

   

[NARSES2]

Good idea. Shows imagination, build skills and presentation skills 

[Mossie]

I like that.   I get the feeling he could go on to bigger and better things.

[Weaver]

Nice work.

There's loads of market for this stuff nowadays because the games industry generates ten times more demand than the movie business ever did. There's lots of people doing it as well though, as a glance at Deviant Art will demonstrate. He'll need to be proactive in marketing himself and getting his foot in the door too.

[CANSO]

  Thanks guys! He needs time to create a style and do things much easier. I'm pushing him to develop some manual skills too, not just virtual 3D-modelling. BTW this model is in 1:18 or 1:16 (based on the size of the figure) and I really want to see it finished and in colour one day!
More to come...
 

[su27rules]

 

[ti]

I like this kid. I like to see more of his plastic model work. I'd also like to post this and other hover builds he has done on my FB page; https://www.facebook.com/groups/1656376861318673/

[CANSO]

O.K., 2 years after my last post in this thread, here's the end of the tale:
My son did finish the model I presented above. He used the W.I.P.-process and the finished model in his portfolio, as part of the  application process for Industrial Design programs in several universities and colleges. The portfolios (all different, but using many common designs, art works and models) have been accepted everywhere he applied. He still has to choose where to go and study for the next 4 years. Below is the HOVERBIKE as presented in one of the portfolios.





Main body is from a "double-inverted" 1:48 Corsair. Double-inverted is a term I invented, it means the main object has been flipped twice: top-bottom(horizontally) and front-back (vertically). This usually makes it not easily recognizable. Nose section is from a Gundam-part, bottom of body has a few parts from gundams + the nose of a F-104 in 1:100 (double inverted again). Seat and top fuselage area are parts form a motorcycle in 1:24, back (engine/computer area) is made of a gundam-leg in undefined scale + gundam hands and gundam head in 1:144. Jet engine is made of 2 toy-wheels attached to the body through a part from an ink-jet printer, smaller parts are from different plastic models (scales vary between 1:700 and 1:24), the 2 "thrusters" behind the seat are ear buds from Air Canada, the pedals and handlebars are from a Star Wars toy (animated series). Cyclist is a modified toy figure from the movie "Tron". There should be a connection (brain impulses go to the computer, remember) from the circular object on the cyclist's back to the cylinder behind his azz, but it's missing. BTW the disk on his back in the final version is a wheel from a SR-71 in 1:72, not the original Tron-disk .
Painted with acrylics and metalizers,, varnished with Future, decals are from a NASCAR-model in 1:24 (don't ask me which one - I'm not a car-guy!) That's the history of the model as far as I remember (and know) it. My son knows all the details better than I, but he's not much of a forum-writer.
That's it.





The resolution of the images is a bit low, because I've used the original portfolio page and scaled it down.
And one more thing: 3 different models, all of them whifs have been used for my son's portfolios.
Now I'm happy that I insisted! 

[Old Wombat]

 

[zenrat]

That's brilliant.  I look forward to riding one of them in the near future.

[CANSO]

That's brilliant.  I look forward to riding one of them in the near future.

When we get a patent for this beast and start manufacturing, I'll speak with my son to give you 15% rebate !
Cheers!

[sykotik]

that is so cool! Isn't it amazing how some very clever people can use scraps and bits of nothing to create something like this? Congrats to your son for being very inventive. Now to make some molds of it and kit it! 
Where did the figure come from? I think I may have missed that part

[CANSO]

Where did the figure come from? I think I may have missed that part

I think I mentioned it somewhere before: it's a motorcycle rider from the film "Tron" There were 2 types of cycles and these guys had orange or white  markings. I found 5 or 6 of them in a thrift store.

[jcf]

 
Good for him, Industrial Design is a challenging field, showing his skill in physical modelling
was a good choice, many applicants have all digital portfolios and, as I've heard from friends in the
field, they often have trouble with the physical part of the curriculum.

Yes folks, contrary to what so many believe, Industrial Design, and related programs
(Car Styling etc.) require the students to work with physical materials, yep they do CAD, 3d design,
3D printing etc., but, they still have to do the hands on stuff, (inter alia clay modelling/sculpting is
still an important aspect of auto design/styling - no matter how good the CAD/3D modelling some
stuff just can't be realized until physically modelled), and how well they do it is a critical aspect of
their grades.

Industrial Design is still where Art and Engineering intersect.


While I have y'all a bit of a rant: CAD and Digital modelling are not push button,
design and engineering are not done by those tools, they are done with
the tools.
Personally speaking, I find irritating every time someone with zero experience with any of it
dismisses everything they don't personally like as being designed by soulless machines
operated by no talent, clueless drones, the machines don't design anything and the people
using them are working within parameters set by someone else. So before anyone throws stones,
take a look at yourself and please tell us how free you are to be creative within the strictures
of your employment.

[Rheged]

That's brilliant.  I look forward to riding one of them in the near future.

When we get a patent for this beast and start manufacturing, I'll speak with my son to give you 15% rebate !
Cheers!

Can I ride one of these marvellous machines on my current motorbike licence?