Welcome to the Workshop
Do come in and have a look round - but mind where you tread! The management accepts no responsibility for bruised toes or paint-splattered trousers.
This is the page where ideas - some promising, some slightly peculiar - are deposited in a fairly random way. We've also included a bit of background on some of the more curious things we've produced, and a few we plan to unleash shortly.
Into ornithology? You may be interested in the evolution of the Windy Duck (see the 'Print & Build' page for a free downloadable template). If you manage to build your own Windy Duck - especially if it was a colour-it-yourself version, do let us know - we could always start a duck hall of fame...
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Fieldhouse Engineering Challenges
In 2021, we stumbled across a brilliant series of engineering challenges set by Fieldhouse Engineering - a Somerset-based company with a strong creative streak. Their wonderfully wacky idea? A year of "design, build, and test" events open to anyone brave enough to enter.
The challenges continued into 2022 and are still going, albeit less frequently - after all, they've got some high-tech, serious engineering to do as well!
Links to the events can be found on the FEng website website, or by searching for 'Fieldhouse Engineering' on Youtube.
Naturally, Toby and I couldn't resist the challenge! We have entered several of the competitions, and also provided artwork to advertise the events. You can follow our adventures below...
Event No.3 - Baked bean race - July 2021
Probably the messiest event of the lot! Contestants' vehicles had to navigate a deep trough of baked beans, water, soggy carpet and other hazards. Our entry for this event was 'All Spare Parts' (see adjacent image).
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See the full event video on YouTube here: - Baked Bean Race​
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Event No.4 - Tallest Tower - September 2021
Using the power of just one AA battery, contestants had to design a tower that could build itself - starting from a 30cm cube, and reaching as high as possible. This proved to be a tricky challenge, with some very imaginative solutions from the contestants. After much deliberation, Toby and I settled on an inflatable tower made form bin bags and sellotape. You can see our first test run, and quality-control inspection by Toby in the video
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See the full event video on YouTube here: - Tallest Tower​
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Event No.6 - Boat Race - January 2022
Continuing with the theme of using a single AA battery, and finding the opportunity to re-use the steel trough from the baked bean race, the next event required contestants to push the limits of water propulsion.
You can see how our twin entries 'Turbo-dog' and 'Aqua-cat' got on in the event here: - Boat race​​​
Event No.7 - Tug of war - July 2022
Building on the AA battery theme, the next event added a new twist - a head-to-head tug-of-war challenge between contestants. To capture the spirit of the showdown, the Pencil Workshop was commissioned to create a custom cartoon (see image to the right). A brief video of our entry 'Tug-of-woof' can be seen below.
You can see how our entry 'Tug-of-woof' got on in the event in the following episodes: - Part 1 Part 2​ Part 3 Part 4 Part 5​​
Event No.8 - Rice Rocker - January 2023
Event No.9 - Egg-a-pult - June 2023
Event No.10 - Wind Rush - January 2024
Event No.11 - Toughest Tower - July 2024
Event No.12 - Sand Wars - January 2025
Event No.13 - What will it be, and when will it take place?
Print & build
At the workshop, we have started experimenting with paper modelling, with the first attempts available to download from the 'Print & build' page. Each model has a printable template to cut out and fold, and a set of instructions. New models will be added when we feel suitably inspired.
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Incidentally, if you are looking at this website on a mobile phone, you may find it a little confusing as we haven't formatted it for one yet (we are also not sure if it would work well on one). One day, we will have a go at making it 'phone compatible'.
A very brief history of the Windy Ducks...
For anyone who may be interested in duck evolution, this photograph shows the various stages of development. From left to right we have:
Mk I 'Proto-duck' Assembled from assorted junk - just to prove the concept that a triangular section on a weighted, curved base would sway from side-to-side in a light breeze; it did (very badly) but enough to convince me that the project was worth pursuing.
Mk II 'Chicken-duck' This was the first duck to use the current marble-base. In an attempt to get the duck to turn into the wind, tail feathers were added, rather like a weather vane. This was successful in turning the duck, but the tail made the whole model too stable. It just sat there until the fan was turned up to maximum, whereupon it shot backwards off the desk.
Mk III 'Wing-duck' In order to improve air-flow and reduce aerodynamic stability, the size of the tail was reduced, the body was given a forward lean and wings were added to encourage air flow around the duck's body. Numerous wing types were tried - some flopped, others flapped, and several fell off. The shape you see here proved to be a reasonable compromise.
Mk IV 'Tailless duck' In an attempt to simplify the model, the tail was eliminated, and just the wings used to turn the duck into wind. (The tail was also adding too much weight to the back of the duck, causing it to 'sit down' when the air flow was anything more than minimal. The loss of the tail helped the balance, but the duck was very reluctant to turn into the wind.
Mk V 'Pivoting duck' To encourage the duck to turn, without having an overly heavy tail, the thin strip was added to the underside of the rocker. This strip reduced the contact area under the rocker, and made a big difference to the ease with which the duck would spin into the wind. Other minor changes were made to improve the wing shape, and the lower tail 'bulge' was added to increase stability under gusty conditions.
Mk VI 'Bill' The last prototype duck, more or less complete, acted as a stand-in for the filming of the 'Windy ducks' video, when one of his peers failed to arrive on time. In the opening scene with the fan, he is the one furthest from the camera, and is recognisable by the Sellotape used to attach his wings.
What next? - At the Pencil Workshop, we have tried building larger and smaller ducks, on A3, and A5 paper, varying the ballast, and introducing the 'colour-it-yourself' duck. Do try out some of your own ideas too, and see what else can be done with the design.
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Grumblechop
Grumblechop, the soup-and-smoothie-slurping, hazard-prone, large, green monster first stomped into existence in 2017 - born not in the laboratory or a publishing house, but in the spirited chaos of a local primary school project on teeth. His earliest adventures were drawn up and printed in small batches on the kitchen table, where glue-sticks and cereal bowls competed for space.
Plans for a grand unveiling in 2018 were considered, then quietly shelved, as life (and perhaps a few spilled smoothies) got in the way. But monsters don't stay buried forever. After a long hibernation, Grumblechop has remerged - slightly older, no less clumsy, and finally ready for the spotlight.
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His first published adventure will be available soon, with links to trusted booksellers appearing on the Marked Stall page of this website as soon as they're live.
