masterpieces

Superdetailed Hardwood Scale Model of Caterpillar 5230B Excavator

Superdetailed Hardwood Scale Model of Caterpillar 5230B Excavator

This beautiful model by Bloomingdale, Michigan’s Woodchuck and Company is listed for almost $40,000 on Etsy: “Constructed of cherry and walnut, this award-winning piece has over 4000 individual handcrafted parts and requiredover 3000 man-hours to complete…”

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“Elastic Park” Balloon Art Dinosaurs

“Elastic Park” Balloon Art Dinosaurs

Although I must admit having had my fill of awkward “origami” portmanteaux, there is no denying that balloon artist Larry Moss and his team of talented “Airigami” designers and sculptors are producing some pretty amazing work.

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How-To: Operate a Homemade Scanning Electron Microscope

How-To: Operate a Homemade Scanning Electron Microscope

When we last checked in on Ben Krasnow’s homemade SEM, he had just achieved his first successful image with the device. As his latest video shows, the project has come a long way since then. It’s a long clip, by internet standards, at almost 10 minutes, but Ben does a great job of communicating what he’s doing and why, taking us through each step in the imaging process, from loading the sample, through pumping down the vacuum chamber and powering up the electronics, to fine-tuning the image itself.

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Lego Pegasus Automaton

Lego Pegasus Automaton

This work from Korean Kyoung-bae Na, aka edulyoung, would be impressive as a static Lego model. As a flapping-wings automaton, it is, I daresay, magnificent. Kyoung-bae Na has a BrickLink storefront as Studio Amida, but the Pegasus Automaton is not listed there as of this writing.

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Mostly Carved Away Eggshell

Mostly Carved Away Eggshell

Although Instructables user bbstudio’s entry in their ongoing Egg-Bot challenge falls a bit short on the “instruct” front, his or her experiment “to remove as much material from an egg shell as possible while still retaining the shape and image of the egg” has undeniably produced some impressive results.

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A CD, A Nickel, A Paper Clip, and Some Hot Glue

A CD, A Nickel, A Paper Clip, and Some Hot Glue

Plus a little treasure from nature. From Mrballeng, Instructables user and craftsman. I have rarely, if ever, seen anyone use pick-up materials so creatively or so skillfully. Hats off to you.

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Chris Bathgate’s self-transforming elf machines

Chris Bathgate’s self-transforming elf machines

“His works look like randomly-generated parts for high-performance machines that don’t work in our universe.”

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