Assessment Task 2

ASSESSMENT TASK 2

In this project, we have been given a task to make a range of concept Foam Model workshop power tools for Pre-Prep students. It should be playful and fun for young children to play with soft shapes, many buttons or even moveable parts. This mainly inspires young children to act like they using real tools.

Research and Investigation 

In the first lesson, I experiment with Midjourney AI to generate a picture of power tools to get some ideas for this project. But it's very hard to find the word for AI to generate. I did some research and analyse the tools that have a harmless shape for children, and I came up with a sanding machine.

Many power tools can be used for this project for example sanding machine, wrench, power screwdriver rubber hammer, etc.

As a well-known character that, in my opinion, was cute and has yellow as a key colour characteristic, Pikachu from the Pokémon series is my theme for this project. This will have an impact on my major colour for this piece, which is yellow, as well as certain portions with red and brown. From my experience, the Pokémon series is a very good cartoon for young children for a very long time, so that might also be a good theme for our Pre-Prep kids. 

In this research process, I use Pinterest to find many ideas and photos to put on this website. 

Designing

is one of the most difficult stages of this assessment; it is difficult for me to generate ideas, but I still manage to complete them fairly well. In this assessment, I decided to draw my design on Procreate because it's my favourite programme for drawing many creative ideas. Even though I know it will take me longer to complete my sketch, fineline, render, shadow, and highlight. But the trade-off in precision for each fineline is worth it for me.

Working process

I start of my design process quite slowly after trying to adapt my design concept to the power tools. 

Foam Modelling

It is one of my favourite procedures in DT. Working with both hands, tools, machines, and sandpaper was one of the most satisfying emotions for me. 

Working process

I used blue foam for the sculpting in this project. To begin, I sketched a template pattern on paper and stuck it to the foam, then Mrs Douglas cut the large piece of foam into two pieces, which I then glued together using wood glue. I then started cutting down the foam with a coping saw to get it closer to the shape that I wanted, and then I used a hotwire tool to cut down all sides into a perfect shape with the help of my template.

After that, I drilled a round hole in the gap between the front and back handles with the assistance of Mrs Douglas. Then I take a large coping saw from the PREP workshop to cut a hole in the shape of my design. I was able to cut through the middle without harming the outside construction by removing the blade and inserting it within the hole. Now I acquired all the main shapes of my design, subsequently, I use medium sandpaper to smooth the surface of the foam and make a curve edge of the handle. Mrs Douglas will assist me in cutting it down by roughly 2.5 cm due to its thickness then I glue it together again. I also cut the body part of the model so I can treat the shape differently than the base.

Then use a hand file to shape the top section down, due to the time limit I can't shape it to be exactly the design. It's very difficult to make the surface of the shift in the section smooth without damaging the edge because of the sand paper.

Toward the end of this assessment, I work extremely hard under duress in order to complete this assignment on time. I realised I only had two classes to paint my entire piece, so I started painting right away, skipping the process of applying the first white acrylic paint, which cost me a lot of money. In the end, I did my best to paint all of the portions. I have no issues with grey and black paint, which comes out to be quite good with only one application; nevertheless, yellow paint does not work well with blue foam. It's clear that I need three layers of paint for the yellow region, so I let it dry and will return to work on it in the next lesson. I then work very hard on the following lesson, painting the second layer of existing paint, but the issue is the detail that has yet to be painted. As the third coat, I attempted to cover all unpainted areas of my work with extra paint. I work during my morning break but am still unable to complete the painting process.

Finish work

At the moment these pictures were taken all the paint is still yet to be done.

Evaluation