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<td>When Craig Hardt came across an old, broken answering machine he
knew he had the perfect base for this project. This is an inspired
use of found items and a great example to us all.</td>
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[h3]Materials and tools[/h3]
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# hobby knife with standard blade and saw blade
# screwdriver
# nippers/wire cutters
# leather punch
# window screen
# plastic tubing
# 3mm half round beads for rivets
# miscellaneous electronic bits
# a few parts from an WWII accessories sprue
# a 3.5" floppy disk
# plasticard or matboard
# superglue
# PVA glue
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[h3]Method[/h3]
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<td>The main basis for this project was the bottom half of the
plastic case of the answering machine. I cut a rectangular hole
into the case and attached a box made of plasticard to create a
recessed area. I then detailed the box with plastic strips, rivets
and miscellaneous bits leaving the recessed area empty. I used
superglue for attaching everything. I chose some interesting bits
for the recessed area and set them aside for painting since
painted them inside the box would have been very difficult. I used
plastic tubing and the window screening to fill some holes in the
side of the case.</td>
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<td>Next to the recessed area I created the impression of a door to
another recessed area. This was done by using the same border as
the recessed area and then scoring a line down the middle and
adding two handles made with wire. A small length of jewellery
chain was put through the wire with a tiny kitbashed padlock.</td>
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The padlock was made by taking the leather punch and punching out a
circle of plasticard, another smaller circle of floppy disk plastic and
a loop of wire.
[h3]Painting and adding the stripes[/h3]
The whole project was primed in black as well as the parts set aside
earlier. Most areas were dry brushed with silver and then some bits
painted with other colours.
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<td>Once the set-aside parts and the recessed areas were painted I
glue the parts inside the box. With the base coats done I glued
the stripes to the project using PVA glue. These were created
using yellow paper printed with blank stripes in an inkjet
printer. Next, the whole piece was washed with a watery, brownish
wash. While this was still wet I went back and added rusty pools
and let different washes run down the sides of the piece and some
of the bits.</td>
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I did find that the washes darkened the yellow paper quite a bit but
I ended up liking the look in the end. A final, light dry brush of
silver on the rivets and other parts was done to bring out these
details.