The Moon Coaster

I thought that Brooke's Moon Coaster was a great way to get around the moon while also having lots of fun. I had a great skype chat with Brooke about her idea and got some excellent feedback on the making. Although I couldn't make a full size coaster, as my room isn't big enough, I wanted to make a good looking model of it.

After some thought about the size and how it might work I bought a wood box and joined the lid to the base to create a L shaped base. I wanted to make the moon rotate so bought some little pulleys and brass rods and experimented with different elastic and rubber bands to work out how to turn a handle at the front of the base and rotate the moon slowly. 

Once I'd got the mechanism working well I bought a polystyrene ball and some plaster material that I used to create a moon texture. I cut out tiny circles from paper and stuck them on the ball to create craters by covering them in the wet plater. I used a brush to 'stipple' the plaster to make a moon surface.

For the roller coaster I went to the model shop and bought some plastic strips that I could cut and bend easily and added some plastic cut for the legs. The cart again was made from a sheet of plastic that I cut with a scalpel and made into the box. I bought some tiny sitting people and added blobby paint to make them look like they are wearing a space suit.

I experimented with painting the moon to get the best effect, it is a mixture of browns and yellows, I tried to let the darker colours get into the cracks and crevices.

Finally I painted the base black and hand painted starts onto it. I'm happy with the finish, it was a lovely project to work on and a great idea by Brooke.