The Old Crane Bearing

Sometimes, we unwittingly throw away stuff that can be really useful for our magical World of Miniatures.

We are so used to discard day-to-day objects after they served their intended purpose, that we don't realize that these objects can often be turned into something completely new, something unique.

Take, for example, a regular deodorant spray can. Its plastic head often contains quite a sophisticated, hidden mechanism, that goes unnoticed to our consumer-eyes.

This image: the head of the deodorant spray can in its original state.

When I took apart the example shown here, I was pleasantly surprised at how interesting it looked, and I immediately felt that I had to use it for something!

With its 'dome' and spray nozzle removed, what was left looked like some part of a machine, like a clock or other mechanical, moving device.

The disassembled head, minus dome and spray nozzle.

I decided to turn it into something rusty and incomplete, resembling the remains of something which had long since crumbled and disappeared, much like, for instance, the gun bearings of an old, sunken warship, on which the guns once sat.

So the first step was, as always when using smooth materials like plastics, to apply a coating of primer. The primer becomes a rough base, which allows paint to stick better to the object. Sometimes multiple layers of primer are needed, but in this case I reckoned that one layer would do.

The head after a first coating of primer.

Once the primer was dry, I started working on the 'weathering', which was a lengthy, but very enjoyable process! I used acrylic paint, pigments, a wash, and even real rust powder that I had made myself.

This image and below: the finished bearing, sitting on the disc I made earlier.

 

The rust effect came out pretty well. It was the first time I used acrylics and pigments manufactured by Vallejo. This is a Spanish brand loved by many in the world of model planes, trains and the like. After using it here, I became a fan too!

Looking at the finished piece, I thought that it looked like what can best be described as the remains of a crane swing bearing. That is the part of a crane where the crane boom, turret, and hydraulics sit on.  I intend to use it with one of my O gauge train projects.

Below is a series of pictures I took of it. It's amazing how absorbed I can get by a simple piece of plastic... :)  Thanks for watching!

"The Old Crane Bearing". Date of completion: 17 February 2018.

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