project info
This is a 12 week Level 6 project replicating The Falkirk Wheel – a rotating boat lift connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal to the Union Canal in Scotland.
This model is a hybrid of an educational model and an architectural model. Its purpose is to demonstrate how the Falkirk Wheel works as a display in their visitor’s centre.
Due to restrictions with using clear resin, the water effect was achieved by elevating a clear acrylic panel, airbrushed with blue glass paint, to sit at ‘water level’ and then textured with model water effect medium to blend with the finish of the rest of the model.
The mechanism was designed at 1:100 scale in Rhino with the gears custom made as they had to be a specific size with a specific number of teeth. They were laser cut from brightly coloured acrylic to help them stand out as the focus of the model. The wheels that the caissons sit on were turned on the lathe out of nylon to reduce friction and allow them to slot into the channel at the ends of the wheel.
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