Category:Makeshifting

'Makeshifting' is a practise which is treated as an art by many on more popular worlds, but is a necessary way of life on low-level colonies. It usually involves making equivalents of high-tech devices using the most mundane components. For example, Junkships are spacecraft made by strapping rocket motors (sometimes not even those designed for ground-to-orbit use) onto a cargo container, ground vehicle or habitation module.

For Necessity

There are a number of reasons people on low-level worlds fall to makeshifting. However, some members of the Makeshift Guild maintain that the term 'makeshifting' should not be applied to the work of such unskilled people who have little choice.

• Price - on worlds well away from major trade-routes, complex manufactured appliances and ships can be disproportionately expensive, forcing poorer colonists to make do with what is available.
• Speed - even where a real ship or appliance is affordable, it may take weeks to be delivered. In these cases, a makeshift could be used temporarily. In many cases, however, once the makeshift is in place, it is seen as not worth the price of ordering a factory-made replacement.
• Repair - When the nacelle arm has broken from a school shuttle on a scattered world, if a spare is not immediately available the only options are to close the school for a week or more, or to bind the engine on with a length of dome support. This kind of repair is often known by the antiquated term 'jury-rigging', with engineers only accepting it as a true makeshift once the repair has been accepted as a permanent 'upgrade'.
• Independence - On some colonies, it is seen as a matter of pride to use only locally made products as far as possible. When such a small settlement cannot support a full range of factories, a makeshift is the only option.

For Art

In the year 893, noted fashion designer Corinthian Blake was preparing for a major show when news was received that the freighter carrying his designs had suffered a technical malfunction and been forced to jettison the cargo in high orbit. Unable to organise another landing window at short notice, Blake hired 2 tugs which were chained to the 6 cargo containers, and a shuttle to carry up models and guests. The stark surroundings of the hastily-pressurised containers were deemed by the press to be a perfect backdrop for the grotesque complexity of Blake's post-retro gothic designs.

Those containers, with only enough modification to make them livable, are now a permanent satellite. In 887, a downline was added anchoring Blake's new studio to the skyline of Meriphage City. Blake then went on to astound art critics by staging a sculpture show in which every piece was a common household appliance, fully working, made from a wild assortment of engines and gears housed inside a cut-down container.

'Makeshift' was widely accepted as a new school of art after noted critic Teeodore Boynsen named it in 891. Today, makeshifting is popular among both artists and engineers (although the best makeshifters have usually dabbled in both disciplines). Rather than a way of getting around scarce components and low budget, these makeshifters consider it a challenge to perform a common task using the most inappropriate components possible.