giant crab

I never thought I would be jealous of one of my own sculptures...

2011-10-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

Here's the Link >>> http://youtu.be/s4k-jkPtdmY

This is a great video produced by Zach Foote, ( Experience Guide Supervisor, Children's Museum of New Hampshire ) about the wonderful adventures of the Giant Blue Crab! Its a really amazing video! I'm so glad that everyone has enjoyed the Crab, both at home and abroad! Thanks everyone!

Installation Day!!!

2009-12-08T10:25:00.000-08:00

The Giant Blue Crab is finally in his new home, all nestled in for the long winter
...and just in time!

Well, this would not have been possible without a lot of help along the way...first, I'd like to thank my dad for letting me take over his shop for the past few months. I've had scrap metal all over the yard, blue paint all over the floor, and grinding bits in every nook and cranny! (Sorry about the mess.) Next, I'd like to thank everyone who helped me gather all the parts and pieces it took to make this sculpture: the Wentworth Scrap yard (Portsmouth, NH), Seacoast Harley Davidson (N. Hampton, NH), Car World (Candia, NH), and Cycles 128 (Beverly, MA). I would also like to thank the City of Dover, the Dover Community Services Department, and the Dover Arts Commission for making this installation not only possible, but for making it such an incredibly smooth (and speedy) process! And finally, I'd like to thank the Children's Museum of NH and all of it's wonderful staff for taking such a warm interest in my project, embracing it as their own, and helping to see it through to the end! Without you guys the Crab would not have such a wonderful new home!

Best wishes,
Nate

Final touch!

2009-11-01T15:57:00.001-08:00

So, after trying just about every shade of blue under the sun (or in the sky), I ended up doing just a little bit of color "gradient" action. I wanted to keep it as close to a flat color as possible, but the illustrator in my came out in the end -so the ends are a bit darker than the middle. But I think it really worked out for the best :)

The last little bit was to tape off the eyes, so I could paint the eye stalks...

...and that was all for the painting!

Claws, claws, claws.

And here is Mr Crabby all ready for his grand debut!

COLOR!

2009-10-12T17:23:00.001-07:00

So these pictures are in reverse order to show you the thought process I was trying (with varying degrees of success) to use here.This is the color "sketch" I did in photoshop.

Here's a very plastic looking crab claw, painted a very brilliant blue!

So, I finally decided that the crab should be about the structure, not so much the paint job - I mean it's a sculpture, not a painting. Therefore, I decided to just make it a flat color. I really loved the crab when it was just gray, so I figured I could capture some of that same feeling, if it was a solid color...however, I'm still not completely convinced this is the right color ( I think I want something a little less brilliant).

This is what you call trying to create a 'gradient' of light to dark. Unfortunately, it looks more like the sky than a crab :)

Here, I was trying to force my idea of a blue crab onto a the reddish-black under-painting.

I ran out of my first red, so I ended up using three different hues to complete the paint job...not with a large degree of success, however.

I actually kind of like this look - it's like a fiery rust style.

After completing the primer coat, I painted the entire crab black. I did this because I like having a deep rich color to build my lighter hues upon - it gives the paint a stronger sense of depth.

Here's me trying to fight the crab...

...I think I can take him!

6 more feet to go...

2009-10-06T07:03:00.001-07:00

So, with the help of Andrew over at Wentworth Scrap Metal, I put together these beefy footings for the back legs of the crab. They're made of 1/4" diamond plate, cut into 9"x9" squares, with angled steel brackets welded on top. The idea here, is to create pads that the crab can rest on and not sink into the grass or dirt of wherever it ends up.

I painted the bottoms of them with about 5 coats of black rust-oleum paint - which I'm guessing should last awhile.

TWO CLAWS - for twice the action!!!

2009-09-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

Mr. Crab is just about ready for a night out on the town...

...first I just had to finish his manicure...

...add some studs for that trendy goth look...

...and finally get him all shined up!

He's still lookin' a bit pasty, but once we move him outside his color should really improve.

A little more claw work...and me!

2009-09-24T17:52:00.000-07:00

Well, things are starting to come together now - just a few more pieces and we'll be ready for color!!!

So, it dawned on me today that there are not a lot of "people" pictures in this blog series. And so I decided to remedy this situation post haste - with a few lovely shots of yours truly!

(me again...being consumed by the giant crab!)

Filling in the gaps.

2009-09-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

This is where you insert tab A into slot B, except here tab A doesn't quite exist yet. But a few cuts, some bends, and couple choice curses when it comes out too small, and I'm ready to put it all together!

I wasn't quite sure where I wanted this second claw to go; at first I thought it would look good just resting on top of the bigger one...

I liked the "relaxed" feel it gave the crab (nothing like a chillin' crustacean), but the claws got a little too busy and convoluted. They needed some room to breath! So, I sat and I stared, and did some drawings, and a whole lot of thinking, and I finally decided to move them apart.

It was starting to look a lot better - much more 'active'! But being three-dimensional, you have to look at it from every angle - and from some view points the claw looked great, while others left a lot to be desired. So I kept moving it all about; tying it down, lifting it up, and twisting it all around, until...

...it was just right!

(There's nothing super important going on in this picture - it just makes me laugh because it looks like the crab is flying a really big kite.)

Once I had the claw in just the right position, with the perfect angle, and exact spacing, I realized that it was going to be tough to work on it with all those ropes attached...so I built a little stand, and welding right on!

It isn't a pretty stand but it does the job :)

And then once the claw is connected to the body, I can just cut the stand right off, and no one will know it was ever there! (I mean so long as no one checking out this blog ever tells anybody, that is).

Front appendage #2.

2009-09-19T20:36:00.000-07:00

I was beginning to wonder what I was going to use for the second claw, as I used up my motorcycle fenders on the first one. So I took a trip down Rt 1, stopping at all the motorcycle shops along the way, looking for one more fender. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone body who had any...that is, until my last stop at the Harley Davidson shop - thanks Shawn!!!

So, I matched one of the Harley's up with the last old fender I had from the Ant project, and magically I had my second claw!

Then I took a length of pipe, and welded it to two disk breaks, creating a little spindle.

And if you turn that spindle on it's side, it becomes a claw hinge - just like that!

And here it is all welded together - just need to add the face plates now...

one down...

2009-09-19T20:13:00.001-07:00

So here we have one of the front claws ready for action. (I ran out of primer today, so I used some left over black and blue paint instead)

Wow, that little claw was heavy - but here it is put in it's place.

My grandfather came by for a quick visit after I got this part attached - he called it a "really big nut cracker". I think he's right!

Revisions!

2009-09-15T17:48:00.001-07:00

So, I still wasn't completely sold on my claw design - I just couldn't decide if I liked the smaller half of the claw sticking up, or if I should try something else. And after much deliberation, I decided that if I just cut it off, I would have to worry any more! If it's gone, then it's gone - time to move on!

Once it was gone I knew I made the right decision! I grabbed another fender for the new top half, and I was immediately in love :)

Getting closer to the finish point...

...even closer...

...now I just have to fill in holes, let it dry, and it'll be ready! Again, I resorted to bond-o as my gap filler (with a little bit of sticky-backed metal mesh). As I'm working with vehicle parts, it just made sense to use vehicle repair methods...no need to reinvent the claw!

Time for the meaty bits!

2009-09-15T17:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, so the first step is always 'taking inventory' - here I have a propane tank, a section of pipe, a fire extinguisher, a scuba tank, and a "refrigerant" tank. Once I've got all my parts for making the crab claws laid out, I can try and see how I'll actually use them together.

So then it's time to starting cutting things open. I used the big white tank to start with, since it was roughly the size I had in mind.

However, the tank wasn't quite the right shape, so I decided to try and cut out a section on the tip to make it a bit more pointy.

Unfortuantely, you can't always envision how things will turn out, until you actually do it. So now that I have a big white whale, it's time to make some changes and bring it back to the crab claw I was aiming for!

Luckily, I still had some left over motorcycle fenders from my giant ant project, so I slapped one on Moby here, and voila! - we have a claw!

Finally, it was time to figure out how this guy was going to attach itself to the body...nothing like doing exploratory surgery on a giant crustacean. So, I got it roughly in the right place, and then took some measurements for the "arm phase".

some more details :)

2009-09-07T17:02:00.000-07:00

The next step was to do some priming, that way I could keep the metal from rusting. It's also a good way to see how the pieces look all together. When the sculpture is made up of different pieces, it's easy to get distracted by the different colors. When it's all one color, you can focus on the actual shape of the form, and see if it's working.

I decided that the tiny gaps between all the little body pieces looked too messy, so I got some more Bond-o and got to work filling them all in.

Next, I'll just let it all dry overnight and come back tomorrow to give it a quick sanding.

....it walks!

2009-09-04T14:14:00.001-07:00

(or at least stands without toppling over!)

My new shoes!

2009-09-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I decided the wheel rims weren't quite the look I was going for on the bottom segment of the crab legs. I liked how the had a nice arc to them, but they were a little too thin for what I had in mind. So I took a trip back to the scrap yard to see what I could find...

Here is my new best friend Andrew cutting out some crab "feet" for me. I have come to realize that hard work just isn't much fun, so it's always better to get someone else to do it :)

We found a nice piece of 1/2 inch steel plate about 3 feet wide and 8 feet long (the first piece was about four times as big - so if you ever need to build a football field out of solid steel, I know where to look), but I only needed a few little wedge shapes. So a few heated moments later with the torch we had the six pieces!

Unfortunately, the shapes were still kinda rough, so I just hit them all with my trusty little grinder, and voila! - nice and smooth.

Then they all took a wire brush "bath"...

...and they were ready to join the party!!!

Finally getting back to it...

2009-08-28T18:25:00.001-07:00

After missing about two weeks of sculpture time due to a series of most troublesome events (ie. work), I have finally gotten back to making the crab!

Here's the 'bond-o sculpted' VW hood all sanded down
and primed up for painting.

Here's Doug helping me load the heavy stuff; he's one of the great
guys from Wentworth Scrap Metal in Portsmouth.

Crab down!!! Oh no! ( Actually, when I put the crab down on it's front, it almost took me with it!...this bugger is heavy!)

The bottom of the crab was the last of the body panels I needed to weld...

...and as you can see, there were a few intricate pieces to get just right!

Here's what I'm thinking the side legs will look like
(before I weld them all together).

Inside-out...

2009-08-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

Now that the front was all sealed up, it was time to get to work on the top!

Ooops! Forgot about that little gap. One of the challenges of using "found materials" (ie. recycled metal) is that you can't always choose how big it's going to be. So, in this case I had to fill in the gap on the front with a lot of little scraps.

And here's what it looks like on the inside.

Now, it's time for the top.

I used some re-bar to make an edge for the hood to rest against. That way I could make sure it didn't move once it was in the right place.

And here it is all put together (...almost).

Another challenge of using found objects, is that they aren't always in pristine condition. In this case there was a large hole in the hood that needed to be fixed up before it could go in place. (thank you bond-o!)

Front and center!

2009-08-17T13:59:00.000-07:00

This rusty old sheet metal will soon become part of my crab... just a light dusting should do the trick!

For the front part I wanted to hide my welds...

...so, I decided to weld on the inside of the crab.

And this process involved using a lot of helping hands...or rather helping clamps!

2009-08-04T19:53:00.000-07:00

I decided to add a little more structural support to the frame...not that I think anyone would ever try to climb on my sculpture. But you know, just in case!

Wow! This part took much longer than it should of...it's times like this when I wish there were instructions that came with being an artist!

And now I have two sides done :)

well, it's certainly starting to look like something...right?

2009-08-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

Things are starting to come together :)

(the belly of the beast)

from the posterior

the VW!

2009-08-02T14:29:00.001-07:00

I actually just found the little Beetle on the Car World website. I think it must have been waiting there for me - the term 'destiny' comes to mind.

hoods are good!

2009-08-02T14:17:00.000-07:00

Here's half a Honda hood...

...and the other half. (next to the crab eyes - I'll try to get some better pics of those up here, too)

And here's the best find! A '73 VW Beetle hood - got this little gem from Car World ( http://www.carworldused.com/)

...more legs

2009-08-02T14:15:00.000-07:00

here come the legs!!!

2009-08-02T14:12:00.000-07:00

starting the build!

2009-08-02T13:53:00.000-07:00

The first few welds are done...10,000 more to go!

A few more welds are done - yeah!

Here is the main body put together. I originally wanted more curvy lines here, but I figured most of the frame will be completely hidden, so it probably wasn't a good use of time :)

It's me and my crab! (wait a minute...something doesn't sound right about that!)

Here's the crab body up in the air...just waiting on legs. I guess if I didn't spend half the day trying to figure out a way to keep him suspended, those legs might be a little closer to being done! But I do often have to invent some crude, yet effective means for holding things in place. So far, nothing has come crashing down on me...although, if you notice my updates suddenly stop, there's probably a good chance my luck has finally ended.

getting prepared...

2009-08-02T13:47:00.000-07:00

That magic pile of metal treasures (a.k.a. The Wentworth Scrap Yard)

Just organizing the tools and pieces for the project. I find black pipe to be an excellent material choice for framing up large structures - not too heavy, but very strong!

My little MIG ready for business!

more preliminaries...

2009-08-02T13:36:00.000-07:00

(digital sample of finished sculpture)

(rough size)

(just playing with design structures)

(another quick sketch)

(life size drawing - done for measuring purposes)

The new giant is underway!

2009-08-02T13:34:00.001-07:00

Here's the new project for Summer '09 - A giant crab!