Faux Tesla Coil Halloween Project-Part 4

Three inch tall pillars

Electrical bolts

I have been working out some of the procedures for creating this Halloween themed project.  It has been a case of which came first the chicken or the egg.  Once I added the spheres to the top of the stand I determined that it needed some scaffolding to add more dimension to the piece.  I also determined that I needed to elevate the frame.  I showed the sticks that will become the main frame of the scaffolding in my post labeled Part 3 of this project.  I could not determine the width that I wanted between the scaffolding pieces until I actually had the pillars in place.  Once the pillars were cut, I had a much better idea of how wide I wanted the base of the scaffolding pieces to be.  Now I know how long each cross braces should be.  I also went ahead and sanded and painted the pillars while I was working with them.  That is progress, although it does not seem like much at the moment.

I also determined that before I glue the metal frame to the pillars, I should add the bolts of electricity that shoot from the spheres.  It will be much easier to work with the spheres without having to deal with the additional length of the pillars every time I turn the piece.  So I have started on making the electrical bolts.  At this time they are only bits of wire covered with masking tape.  The masking tape will be covered with (you guessed it) paper maché.  The masking tape will provide a rough surface for the paper  maché.  It could have been done without adding the masking tape, but it would be more difficult to keep the paper
 maché from slipping.  

That is about as much as I have had a chance to work on this project for the last few days.  My next step will be to cut the cross braces.  Then I will cover the braces and the electrical bolts with paper  maché and paint them.