Stolen Art No.1 Build Time +900 hours.
The Art piece was stolen from Shurgard Maastricht Noord whilst in their safe area. ___________________________________________________________________
I had a fish tank in which I kept a water scorpion like this that I called Bella. Bella was a voracious eater of small fish and one night decided to fly out of the fish tank and off into the night.
Anyway, I always liked her shape, and so I decided to base my palindrome Cannon on her shape.
This design is a bit like converging evolution, like when some birds on different continents have the same look and purpose, but are not remotely related.
The same happened to me with this project.
I conceived this idea on my own and then set about making the design. About halfway through the construction, someone mentioned that what I was building looked a lot like a prop from the movie the Wild, Wild West. So I saw the movie and I like OK, I can only go in this direction, because this is about exactly what I had in mind. So then I went in the wild wild west direction.
There was no way anybody would believe I had independently thought up the same design.
Like, if you can't beat them, join them.

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I used some black powder and turned a slug and packed it and there was a bang and fizz.
There was a decent mark in the plaster on the other side of the room.

So I decided that I could used the term 'working cannon' in this art piece.

So this was my beginning of the cannon.

Then I made a cover for the cannon.
I really did not have any clear direction where I was going with this.

I did figure out that when the piece is finished, and the cannon has been fired, it would be necessary to remove it to clean it. So I made a hinged cover.

I made a copper base for the cannon bogey to be affixed to.

Here is the finished cradle that the rest of the Palindrome cannon will be built around.

Adding the front panels.

The cover hinges open so that the fuse can be lit.

Adding reinforcements.

The front panels had some copper flooring added and I started on the rear end.

The rear end was attached with screws. With most of my art projects, I solder only the chassis and then make everything screwed on so that it can all be taken apart for servicing, if needed.

Here I have started on the side section that will have the legs attached.

This was my first attempt to make a working articulated leg joints.
There would be several redesigns after this.

Designing the middle legs first.

I always draw several designs and then cut them out and pose them.
This was the one I chose.

The first two sections are fabricated.

I made a giant hinge out of copper for the middle joint.

The same method was used for the rear legs.

The rear legs have been fabricated, also with hinges in the center joint.

I draw on the middle legs to see how I will file them.

These were the first type of swivel and lock joints that I made, and they really didn't work well.

Showing the underside.

Designing the front legs.  Now that this art piece has been stolen, I can also be disparaging towards it.  The frickin' legs are far to long.  I don't know what I was thinking.

The first part of the legs started.  If now, at the time of writing, I was making this project, I would have left the front legs as long as is shown in the picture.  But I made them longer.

Here is the template.

Cutting out the front part.

I like the design, but I should have removed about a 100 mm out of the length.
Sometimes, because the work is already done, one is not keen to cut it out and throw it away. These days, I kill the wrong work with out any empathy for it.

Soldering up the first part.

Both parts are finished and I'm starting the claws.

I solder small scrap place holder pieces in position first.

Finished the rear part.

I wanted the front claws to swivel. So I cut them off and started closing them up.

So I carved some swivel type thing in wax first and then I sand cast them

I made the middle part of the front claws into a ball joint. Then I fitted the swivel thingi's that I cast.

I sand cast another form at the top left.   Then I joined the two together (right)

Then it worked like this. In retrospect, I should have made a gun platform instead of claws. I think it would have looked better.

Nevertheless, it did look quite mean.

So now I went up another quite long dead end alley.
I decided that the claws on this machine would be a symbiotic parasite that served and a claw and also as a weapon.

So I fabricated the body that I drew out in the previous picture.

Check how mean this looks  Even though I didn't use these in the final design, I was well pleased with the design of my loco crustacean.

Then I carved and cast two swivel joints onto the back of the loco claws.

And finally, I added a tail to it.   I left a ball on the end, just so that I would not cut myself during construction.  I have never had a project that I have not bled on at some point.

So then I started to finish off the front part. First the inside panels.

Then the tops.

And sanded down.

Now I started finishing off the back part.

Closed the sides of the back up.

I thought is came out quite cool.   I liked the copper sides.

Here I was.  It was at this stage that some one mentioned the movie the Wild, Wild West.
So I rented it and watched it.   
Oh my, this was pretty much what I had in mind too, with some variation.

So I decided, as for originality, I was fucked – the movie makers were there before me.
So I joined them. What else could I do?
I was hardly going to cancel the project after so much work, although I did contemplate it.
Here I am starting the top part of the Palindrome cannon.
The balustrades ?

Thing was that the top control panel was going to be so complicated, that the top had to be made removable.
So as to be able to get to all the nuts below and behind.

Working on the floor plan.  Since I joined the Wild West, a floor plan was needed.

Then I added machine controls, a headlight and chain posts as well.

I love doing this type of work, like making miniature stuff.     So I just went adding on anything I could imagine and also crib any designs from the movie.

Check out this cool steam valve.
I added a gauge dial later.

This was like a boiler expansion control with a very important gauge on it.
It is so because I say so.

Then I made the proverbial boiler chimney.

And the captain's chair.

These are all the parts for the main control box.

I made some head lights for the Palindrome Cannon.

Powerful reflectors to better see the enemy.

Here the components of the headlights.

It was at this time that I discarded my locomotion crustaceans and went for a more conventional footing.  I used them in another stolen project called 'Birth'.

Various cast and carved shapes.

Then I cast some power units for the legs.

And some adapter units.

Popped them on each like this.

Top view of all the hydraulic tubes for locomotion.

These tubes go down to the bottom of the middle leg.

Here the ones for the front legs.

Three into one fitting -- sand cast and worked off.

Sensor studs for the front arm.

The bottom of the Palindrome Cannon had also to be decorated.

So I made two stylistic dragons and attached them to the under side of the Cannon.

There needed to be a ladder. 
Two strips of metal, with two locating or register holes drilled in.

Then all the holes are drilled for the rungs.

I turn the rungs out on my lathe.

The sides and rungs have to be polished before they are soldered together.

I bind them all in place with binding wire.
This was quite tricky, because if everything is not absolutely parallel, it shows clearly immediately.

Once they were soldered together, I started on the hand railing.

This also requires some accurate drilling and careful soldering.

I left the ends long, so I can bend them down to end the hand railing neatly.

Finished and polished.

It was then installed so that it was possible for someone to climb up into the Palindrome Cannon.

Here is the cannon bogey, which can be removed very easily to clean after firing.

A picture of some of the components of the Cannon.

Top view of the completed project.

Another top view.

Popped them on each like this.

It is very sad for me to end this chronicle of the Palindrome Cannon in this way.
I also made a display box but the thieves broke it, so no point in photographing it.

Below is my contact email and other websites.

hansmeevis@gmail.com http://meevis.com/jewelry-catalog.htm https://www.jewelry-tutorials.com/ https://www.drill-straight-tools.com/