Back to GCSE physics I go! The coiled springs enhancing the magnetic pull of a wire with electiricity being passed through it. Personally; more fun was had in physics when we had toy cars to work out velocity. Of course, we spent most of the time crashing them and making them jump ramps over te sinks... but I digress...
But not just any electromagnet will do for this! I need to work in a few bits of the 'Mad Scientist' style to it (Basically; some funky lights on the top). Let's get cracking!
The coil was simply a ton of torus rings (I am obsessed with them this semester...) around a cylinder. The glass done on top is well... I'll let you guess that one...
Though the original storyboard only had a single coil; it seemed better to 'pad' out the electromagnet and make it larger by adding a second coil (Most come in pairs anyway). Luckily, I only had to clone the first; and then add a few posts to them... which will eventually get attached to..
The box! A simple cube with some of the edges tweaked in editable poly mode
Next step was to add the power supply to the magnet (Again, this helped to increase the overall size of the electromagnet); as well as several signs (The magnet one was vital; in order to help reduce the amount of confusion caused by wondering what this weird thing is). The magnet sign actually went through more re-designs, sketches and tests than probably any other component. I wanted something silly looking; amost Portal-esque, for those of you who have played that gem of a game (The cake is a lie...)
With a basic electromagnet now looking functional; it was time to texture. The first step was to make the domes transparent (Well... translucent if you're really picky...) so that they actually look like glass.
The ring coils were then given a splash of colour and specular to grant a highly polished look to them. Now they actually look metallic, and not like some brat has pelted a ton of quoits around a post...
The posts and metal box were then given a dash of texture to add to their style...
Finishing off with a dirty-looking texture on the power box to give the magnet that "used" look. With the electromagnet in place; we're almost ready!
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