I took a break last weekend from the dinner scene. I decided I wanted to do something a bit smaller and fun. So I chose a computer bug. Or, as my Uncle called it, a digital kootie.
If you know what a computer bug is, great. If you don’t, well there was a time, early in the pc era when someone decided to create a craft item/project. They took an electronic chip and put eyes and antenna on it and called it a computer bug. Very cute and very clever.
As preparation for creating this bug I made a trip to my local Radio Shack. Yes, they do still sell electronic parts, you just have to go to the back of the store to find them. And they happen to have quite a variety in support of the Arduino Maker projects as well as the Raspberry Pi computers and projects. So if you are so inclined, check them out.
Anyway, as I was looking for the type of chip I remembered being used for these bugs, I discovered there are a variety. So I purchased a couple and headed home to my computer.
I initially thought to model the legs as a single piece across. So instead of having 16 individual components for the legs I would have 8. That didn’t work as well as I wanted so I created 16 components. I did have a little trouble with faces again but was able to figure them out. Once the first leg was modeled I then copied it and rotated it and moved it about where I wanted it for the leg on the other side.
I tried to use the mirror tool and failed, well as best I can tell I failed. It didn’t appear to work and I haven’t found any rogue elements in my scene.
The eyes are just cylinders. We two each. A clear one with a white plane and a solid black one, inside the clear one. At first I didn’t have the white plane and the black part didn’t show up right. So, I applied a white material to the one face of the cylinder. And of course, I couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t showing. This is a case where the normals had to be flipped in the direction that is not considered to be correct so that the material would show on the correct side of the element. There are always exceptions to every rule.
Draft Computer Bug
So here is the first draft of the bug that I sent off to my Dad, for his enjoyment. And since it is his desk I remember seeing a computer bug sitting on, oh so many years ago.
This little guy was a lot of fun to model. I might have to make him some companions.