FAQ page
Here are the answers to the
most common questions. I need some stuff built for
a short film, but I don't have any money; would you
help? I used to do a lot of this,
but I spend most of my time on paid work now. If your idea
is very original or I like it a lot, I might still find the
time to help - get in touch! Where do you build
stuff? In my workshop - a
converted garage. It's well equipped and stocked and has
adequate health and safety provision. Do you work on
site? I can, if the circumstances
suit everyone, but I prefer my own workshop. I can also
prefabricate and flatpack. What kind of make-up do you
do? Whatever pays! Mostly blood
and guts, but Borg implants, Elf ears and witches noses are
very popular these days - all blended perfectly with your
skin, of course. I use Dinair and SuDo makeup. How long do l.e.d.'s
last? I can't give a definate
answer, as even the manufacturers don't know. But, I can say
that they will last many years, and each year that they
last, we'll all know more about how long they last! I've had
some burn more or less continuously (about 18 hours a day)
for about 8 years, and they're still going
strong. How do I change the light
bulbs? I never use light bulbs -
only l.e.d.'s. I last used a fluorescent tube in 1997, I
think. Why is your stuff so
expensive? I use led's for light
sources, and these range in price from 40p to £13 for a
3W Luxeon emitter. If you need a brightly lit spaceship with
lots of functions, for instance, it could be £100's for
the components before any work even starts. Do you sell
kits? No. What's the biggest thing
you've made? A 6 foot high
prisoner-of-war camp guard tower. What's the wierdest thing
you've made? It used to be a
Ghost-Busters ectoblaster back pack, but now it's a wheel
chair converted to a time machine. How much do you
make? I just about earn a
living! Do you do this
full-time? No, I still work as an
engineering researcher at a university with very flexible
hours, and we still sell art items and models to retail
customers. Do you ever ruin
anything? Oh, yes. Have you ever made anything
you can't let go of? Not yet! The buzz from this
is giving your creation to an audience - if you hang on to
your stuff, you might as well not bother! Do you use a
computer? Yup. It's the first thing I
turn to. Everything is roughed out, assemblies sequenced,
volumes of resin estimated, wiring schematics produced,
parts lists, cutting lists, templates and scaling are all
prepared in advance. This all helps, and sometimes it throws
up an unseen hitch, but there isn't any substitute for the
self-leveling, gyro stabilised, auto focussing, auto
tracking, light adapting Mk1 engineering eyeball. How did you get
started? I sent some pictures to a
special
effects magazine,
who were advertising for articles, and they took me on.
Eventually the articles were good enough to start hunting
for unpaid work making models for lo/no short films. The
magazine folded in 1999, but by then I had a start. The
magazine
is back on the go again, and I was happy to be able to do
another couple of articles for them again. I'll do more in
the future too, if they want them - great fun. Why don't you update your
website more frequently? When I'm not building
anything, there's nothing to add - and when I am building
anything it's usually for a film, and there's no time! Most
people wouldn't be interested in what goes on for a film
anyway - scratchbuilding a car with a full electrics pack
would only interest about 10 people in the UK - and I know
most of them. Most questions I get are about lighting the
Polar Lights Enterprise, so that's where I spend most of my
website time.
If you can't see what you want, just e-mail
us.