Faux Tesla Coil Halloween Project-Part 11

It's alive!  Well, not really, more specifically the anthropomorphic pumpkin man, (made in the style popular in the 1920's and 1930s) has been painted and assembled.  However, that component of the diorama is not quite complete, which is why the photo shows him standing propped up against a lamp rather than glued into place.  I want to have the pumpkin man wearing a white lab coat in order to tie into the mad scientist theme.  As this diorama is also about a traveling show, the performer would also be wearing a costume of some sort, so the white lab coat fits in that way as well.  I'll probably work on the coat today.  I've been stalling on that because I have reached a point where I might make things worse rather than better if I don't get it to come out right.  It is a matter of working through that stressful point in order to get on with things.

 While I'm working through the "don't mess it up dilemma", I have been working on a few other parts of the diorama.  I have started working on the cat which will be part of the story.  I made a wire armature and have covered the armature with tape.  At this point, it is a bit confusing when you look at it because the head has not been put on yet.  (When I first viewed the photos, my mind was processing the pictures of the armatures as pictures of a giraffe.  So I understand how you could be confused.)  The armature starts at the neck, then there are the body, legs, and tail.  The head will be built from aluminum foil and placed over the wire of the neck.  Then the rest of the body will also be covered in aluminum foil to flesh out the figure.  After that, you guessed it, covered in paper mache'.  However, it will be paper mache' with a twist.  So check back for my next post to see what I am doing differently with the cat.

Note on the wire armature: This armature is made of multi-strand copper wire used for hanging pictures among other things.  It was not an ideal wire for this application as it bends a little too easily.  If you are going to make a wire armature, I would recommend using a sturdier wire.  This wire is very bendy and will be hard to work with.  Once it is encased in paper mache' it won't really matter though.  

 I have also been working on the parts of the steam engine and dynamo.  I have shaped the parts and covered them with tape to ready them for their coats of paper mache'.  Individually they don't look like much, but once painted and placed on the steam engine they will add a lot of detail that will bring the machinery to life.

 It feels great to be back to working on my project again.  My work schedule has been disrupted by vacation, shopping for Christmas, and the Thanksgiving holiday.  I enjoyed all of that, but now I am ready to get back to work on my project.  I hope that between now and the next holiday I will have a fair amount of time to work on my Faux Tesla Coil Halloween Project.

Next time:  Special treatment to create the cat.