About: A kinetic sculptor known as Fish. He is currently making a slow, terrifying transition from computer professional to full-time artist.

I was watching the 2013 Hugo ceremony livestream when I made an offhand joke that I should have a base design in mind, just in case I was ever asked. And that would have been that, except 2 things happened:

1) Spokane won the Worldcon bid. I grew up in Spokane. I went to my first con in Spokane. I'd be a local artist! And it would be the closest Worldcon to Seattle (where I live) in over 50 years, so I was definitely going.

2) A great design idea popped into my head.

I had to make it happen. It was a moral imperative.

See, every year the base of the Hugo Award is different. The rocket is always the same, but the Hugo Committee gets to decide on their own base. For the last ~10 years this has tended to be done through an open competition instead of a direct commission. So if you want to make a base, you just have to apply, usually sometime the previous winter.

That's what I did. And on August 22, 2015, twenty seven Hugos mounted on my base were handed out. Here's how I made them.

(Note: You might want to check the tutorial on making metal gaming dice I did earlier this year, as it covers many of the same processes.)