Faux Aircon units

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Given that the Null Sector comprised of 10x 20ft shipping containers, there was a fair bit of scope for making some larger props to go in the area. A quick flick through google images shows various scenes of neon lighting and roofscapes adorned with pipework and units. I had the idea to make some faux aircon boxes to mount around the camp. As you can see some of these units crept into the back of shots and proved to be quite useful to cover up the name plates on the sides of the containers. 

Image by Sophie Garrett

The basic box shapes were made from 6mm MDF straight from B&Q, I spent a good 20 mins their annoying everybody else who wanted sheets cutting down to size but it's generally easier to pay a bit more money per sheet and have someone else cut it down into chunks that A) Can be assembled immediately and B) fit in your car. Some additional holes were cut on the laser cutter, it's a bit sticky as materials go but if you need a tri pronged hole quickly the laser cutter is a great way to go.



Fans and slats were made using the laser cutter and more traditional laser materials (the fan blades were obviously cut from the fan holes. Each blade was mounted to a central hub which set it at an angle but also housed a bearing, because of this each fan was able to spin freely in the casing once it picked up the wind. I definitely saw a few people who noticed this detail at the weekend.



All the units were painted grey with some cheap masonry paint. The fans and slats were given a second coat of shiny silver paint which was applied with deliberate streaking. The units really came alive though with the application of some rust effects. It was such a simple technique that really added character to the units and made them all very unique.






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