Techno Chess Set

This is the result of one of last years modules. We all picked a theme out of a hat and then had to design and build a chess set based on that theme. The theme I got was Techno. After a bunch of research and a lot of design work this is what I ended up with. 

My inspiration ended up coming from the techno revolution in Germany in the early 1990's and I based the set around the idea of of a techno club during this time. Each pawn is a speaker, the King is the DJ, the Queen is a female dancer, the Bishop is a male dancer, the Knight is the bouncer and the Rook is the building istelf.

Hit the jump for the how too and some more detailed shots. 

 I was given some perspex from the workshop in college but it was 25mm thick and in my designs the pieces were only 21mm thick (So they would fit within the average square on a chess board).

 I milled down the perspex so it was the right thickness, cut it to the right size of each piece and then sanded and polished so that the milled and cut sides was as clear as the rest.

From there I drilled a 7mm hole down the centre of each piece in order to insert that core of colour.

I used a CNC machine to cut out the shapes of the legs and the detail work on each piece. 

The Rook Cut, Drilled and CNCed

The Queen Cut, Drilled and CNCed

I then sanded that hole down the centre, painted a thing layer of fluorescent yellow paint on the inside and each chess piece was fully assembled I interested a dole, painted the same colour, to intensify the colour. 

The King with everything except the base

The Knight before the final cleaning.

The bases were made using foam PVC board, then silicone molded, cast in a bi-resin and painted.

The board was 2mm perspex sprayed with a glass frosting spray. 

The board after I sprayed it.

That's pretty much it so I'll leave this with some detailed photos of each piece. 

King

Queen

Knight

Bishop

Rook

Pawn

It looks very Tron like when the board is lit up, which I love because the visuals in the new Tron were so beautiful, but I designed and made it before the new Tron was released and before I saw the original Tron. 

Thanks for looking!