Assembling the Sentinel: A Cosmic Artifact Straight Out of a Sci-Fi Movie
This steel sculpture looks like a relic from an alien civilization or maybe a Dune prop? I call it the Sentinel. In this article, I’ll show you how I assemble it and why it feels like a designed fossil from another galaxy.
Assembling the Sentinel – My Latest Galactic Fossil in Steel
Hey, I’m Peter Hauerland - designer, sculptor, and science fiction enthusiast with a slight obsession for space relics that might have been forgotten by ancient alien civilizations.
In today’s post, I want to show you something that came out of the workshop recently: a steel object I’ve been calling either Sentinel or Belemnit during its design phase. (Yes, like the prehistoric cephalopod. No, it’s not actually a squid fossil. But squint hard enough and you’ll see the resemblance.)
The Sentinel is part of what I call my galactic fossil series. They’re not based on any real creatures or tech, but they look like they could’ve washed up on a beach in some alternate version of the universe. Imagine a weaponized artifact buried under Martian sand for millennia or an alien navigation talisman left behind in a derelict spacecraft. That’s the energy I’m going for.
Assembly: So Simple It’s (Almost) Suspicious
Now, let’s talk about putting this thing together—because yes, it’s a sculpture, but it’s also designed to be assembled by hand.
The stand is ridiculously minimal. It’s just three laser-cut steel parts, made from 4 mm sheet metal. Nothing which would trace it back to Earth. No screws, no bolts, no adhesives. It holds together entirely by friction and gravity, and honestly, it’s kind of genius. It reminds me a bit of a katana holder—just steel balancing steel.
The artifact itself? That’s where things get heavier—literally.
We’re talking about 10 mm thick steel here (that’s 1 cm or about 0.4 inches if you speak Imperial). It’s a three-part structure, and the middle piece alone is about 38 cm long and 6 cm high. It locks onto the stand with a sort of tongue-and-groove principle. No glue, just smart cuts and satisfying tension.
The result is something that feels both fragile and invincible—like it could shatter if dropped but also survive a meteor impact.
A Fossil from the Future?
There’s no surface treatment on this particular build. Just raw steel. But I’ve done previous fossils in matte black, beige, chalk white, dark grey, and they all hit different. Some look like bones. Some look like alien spacecraft. Others feel more like ceremonial objects from a secret spacefaring cult (you know, the usual).
I’m even toying with the idea of introducing a completely new finish—something maybe a bit more electric or even iridescent. If you’ve got a wild idea for a coating color, I’d genuinely love to hear it.
What Does Sentinel Remind You Of?
Here’s where I pass the mic to you.
What do you see in this object? A squid relic? A downed Star Wars probe? Something you'd find in an abandoned Halo map?
Does the assembly feel intuitive? Too simple? Or just weirdly satisfying?
I’d love to hear your thoughts—whether you're into sculpture, Star Wars, Dune, or just scrolling r/oddlysatisfying at 3AM. Drop your brain dump in the comments below. Or just let me know what color this thing should’ve been.
I’ll be posting some more assembly pictures as well, so stick around.
Catch you in the next artifact drop.
—Peter
