An Unorthodox Halloween – Page 60

Darn Weather…

Well…the winds blowin’, and SNOW is on the way this evening, if the weathermen are correct.

That pretty much curtails any plans I had of making headway on the project. More wind and rain expected Friday and Saturday, and we’re swiftly approaching an entire week lost. Gonna have to do something about that.

But, for now, as I batten down the hatches, figured I’ld do a little cleanup around here.

Got the Bob Tutorial linked to properly in the how-to section, and have done a little cleanup of the other links as well.

Sorting through some emails (only 1018…little behind), I see a lot of folks asking just what the heck IS this Charr thing.

Hmmm….how does one answer that? Maybe this will help:

Or, if not that, perhaps this, uh, more official source:

To the Charr, flame is the physical representation of their gods. In order to keep the gods happy, they must first fulfill their obligation to the flame. To that end, the Charr have constructed a series of sacred buildings known as Flame Temples. On raised platforms, these bestial creatures have inscribed huge circular runes, which define and magically feed the sacred fires. Further defining the ring are pillars of pure obsidian or carved sandstone, sculpted to depict the faces of the mysterious creatures the Charr worship. Between these pillars, in the very center of each of these temples, are the ever-burning Sacred Flames. The Charr believe that as long as the flames are burning, the gods are pleased. If the flames go out, then the Charr have failed in their duties and will be punished by the gods.

In addition to the temples, whenever a large Charr warband travels anywhere, they take with them a bronze brazier, lit at a Flame Temple by the Sacred Flame. These braziers are placed upon palanquins, which are then carried from location to location by four Charr Flame Carriers. Each night when they make camp, the Flame Carriers erect a flammable effigy in the shape of one of their gods, then ignite it and let it burn till daylight.

The bolded portion is the basis for my project.

The Charr Report #2.

The last Charr Report was way back in April!

Then, we had gotten the feet and legs to where they sat till last week. This weekend, however, we’ve made some vast strides on the body. After getting it formed to where it sits properly as a frame, it was time to start work on the real heart of the matter.

Talia now happily points to the dragon sitting outside.

From Year of the Charr

Needs teeth…

I am strugging with a few challenges still. Namely the morning dew, and I need to get this thing back on the base to make sure the head is angled properly before I go finishing up the rest of the body.

We also need to figure out how to get the arms attached…

But, it’s coming. Rain this week. I’m hoping I can get the teeth in, jaw set, and head angle verified prior to the weekend. Then we’re going to be trying a new waterproofing method on the feet, legs, and head. If it proves aviable one, should make the rest of the process much simpler.

FRIGHTMARES!!!

If you’ve been reading for a while, you know Lagoon is the local amusement park.

Frightmares opened tonight and…well, what follows is why Lagoon should skip the summer, and just host Frightmares ALL YEAR LONG. Period, end of story. It is head and shoulders above their ‘normal’ stuff.

First, we are greeted with thumping music booming out of the HEARSE.

From Halloween buildup 09

NORMALLY, there is NOTHING there.

From Halloween buildup 09

During summer, just in the gates, there’s a rather ordinary flower bed…not a photo op.

From Halloween buildup 09

Don’t like ghosts? here’s some scarecrows.

From Halloween buildup 09

Who doesn’t appreciate a pumpkin tree?

From Halloween buildup 09

More photo ops.

From Halloween buildup 09

A rather bland little area in the summer has been transformed into a very New Orleans styled villa.

From Halloween buildup 09

Complete with a more classic hearse.

From Halloween buildup 09

Unfortunately, the Beach is closed for Frightmares…or rather, according to the sign, filled to capacity, you’ll have to wait for some of the patrons to exit, but feel free to form a line to the right….

From Halloween buildup 09

But, that’s more due to weather than anything else. The real MEAT of the matter lies in the fact there is entertainment EVERYWHERE at Frightmares.

This junkyard is typically just an empty lot. That’s it. Empty space. WHY is it not up year round?

There are 5 different shows to go watch. Singing, dancing, a hypnotist, etc. There is something hilarious about dancing chainsaw maniacs…

And everywhere you turn there are monsters wandering, ready to take a photo with you. Providing Lagoon with an IDENTITY it just does not have the rest of the year.

From Halloween buildup 09

All this, with the rides normally associated with Lagoon.

From Halloween buildup 09

To be honest, the haunted houses at Frightmares are nothing earth shattering, and there are better to be had out there. But, the ATMOSPHERE, and the FUN of the season, Frightmares dishes up in spades.

From Halloween buildup 09

And, for all you tombstone people looking for one more epitaph….Here’s a tombstone slideshow:

And Zeus let fly his fury…

With the lab finished, it’s projects mostly put away, and the countdown swiftly flying towards it’s ultimate end…it was time to sit down, and decide just what gets done in this, the final year of the whole tribal theme.

There was the tattered remains of the Charr project leaning against the wall in the Garage. Battered, abused, tossed aside for months on end.

And, there was Project Nightfall. Personally, a take-or-leave-it project…but Jen has be very vocal of how much she LIKES it. It had suffered at the hands of the wrath wraught upon it by the forces of nature on Halloween night, turning it’s mounds into piles of mush.

Year of the Charr…finish? Or scrap?

Some window shopping told me I could probably fit it in under the budget easily enough, and Saturday evening I set out to repair, and add onto…

A nice calm evening, nothing on the forecast…The batch of glue still warm as I set out the door. Skies darkened, wind rose, and as I laid down the last strips of paper this batch of glue would yield, the sky split open and Zeus let fly his fury at the sight of this abomination being constructed in our yard.

Moving a 5 foot radius, 3 pronged blob of gooey paper, flour, water, and glue into the garage is not as easy as it sounds…and as soon as it was under cover, the fury of the sky come complete rushing it’s wrath down the storm drain.

Clearly it was a sign…

From Year of the Charr

I hope to have the whole ‘skeleton’ finished this week, and begin on the mache.

From Year of the Charr

Presently, it’s 7 feet tall. Each leg is 5′ long. The feet are 3 feet tall. The feet disassemble from the legs, and the body from the legs as well for storage…

The grave mounds from Project Nightfall are on the backburner. They will be constructed from styrofoam over a wood frame. But, that can wait till I find a suitable glue.

The Laboratory

Fun day yesterday.

Lots of things went wrong.

The rain….oh…the rain…

Well, some things just weren’t working thanks to the rain. (got wet in transit) Most noteably, the Jacob’s ladder. I didn’t feel like tampering too much with it, water + 10,000 volts isn’t something I try to mess around with…

And, we had a minor accident, losing one of the lamps. Fortunately, we were able to mostly fix it to where it was more or less unnoticeable, but not before giving me a good jolt first…

We sprung a leak in my homage to The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, and just scrapped it. We lost a lightbulb in the serum tanks that forced me to use a backup set of christmas lights that just weren’t bright enough.

All this lead to not really enough time for me to dry off and get the makeup on properly. Only got the bald cap on, not my appliances, and it came falling off about an hour in, so we just mashed makeup into my hair and kept going.

Add in a faceplant on our first run due to the chains being longer than I had planned, and not catching till it was too late…

All in all, just about everything that could, went wrong. And, we still pulled it off in the end. A lot of fun despite the troubles. And, room to improve for next year.

So, just before we gave up on the bald cap:

And…just after.