Charr – Page 4 – An Unorthodox Halloween

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.

The Charr Report.

It’s been an interesting weekend.

I remembered the Power Grab Paper Mache. Or at least a few impressions that it was nice to work with, and that it took more than 30 kids, and an adult with a baseball bat to break it.

Heck, I even had to log in here to recall the recipe.

The stuff is an absolute joy. Easily the best glue I’ve ever worked with.

One note on working with paper mache, though. Get yourself a hair dryer, or fan, or something. Took me a few days to find my old salvage one.

Now then, the “feet” are coming along.

The inspiration:

From Year of the Charr

My ‘feet’ have taken some design, and some artistic interpretations, but they are coming along great. However, we only have 2 finished, instead of the three I had hoped for.

Taping the spikes in place:

From Year of the Charr

We still need to add some detail work. But, that will come later when I make some paper clay.

From Year of the Charr

We also made a HUGE breakthrough on the legs…

After countless failures trying to be all cute and finesse with the idea…(remains of a 4th configuration)

From Year of the Charr

It was time for the no-nonsense approach.

From Year of the Charr

I’m not sure if I like the porportions right now, but chopping some length off the legs is a simple matter if I decide I don’t like it. Point is, IT WORKS!

From Year of the Charr

"Hello, My name is Bob, and I am not like Fred."

So read my son’s homework yesterday.

Highly ironic.

It goes on to read how Bob likes to stare into the sky, gazing upon the stars…

Bob, you see, is a new project. And, he is not like Fred.

Fred is great, but he was REALLY designed for hanging up on a pole, looking down on the world.

Bob, you see, needs to be designed for laying down, looking up at the sky. On the laboratory table. Fred would work fine and all, but he’s a bit heavy to be making to sit up. Bob will be lighter, easier to move.

Now, were I keeping to the whole naming convention of Fred there, we’ld be naming Bob Fred. But, that would get rather confusing. But, more on Bob to come.

Other recent additions to the Lab include a couple of experiment jars. The first being a bucket of Cheese Balls found for $5 at Staples. The Cheese Balls were average…for the first 1/2 or so…I don’t ever want to see cheese balls again at the moment…

From Lab

It’s just screaming for a head to occupy it.

Second on the list is a personal favorite of Red Vines.

From Lab

Not sure just what to put into that yet. Brain, maybe…

Then there is a bucket of pretzels screaming for an arm…but it’s at work still being emptied.

On the Charr front…I needed a break from failure there. So, we’re making the…uh, ‘feet’.

Started with just some PVC, plastic and duct tape.

From Year of the Charr

A little mache later, and we have the beginnings of a foot.

From Year of the Charr

I now have 2 completed, and we’re presently out of both glue and paper. Hoping to finish the 2 this weekend, and start on a third.

Just keep swimming…

So….

2 weeks ago, we spoke of this great plan…

Plan A involved getting some conduit, bending it into a frame, then using chicken wire and paper mache, or even possibly fiberglass to make this thing.

Then, came plan B…It would be really handy if the thing was SECTIONAL…why not make that conduit into sections, instead of great big long pieces. So, we added a box, and some connectors…

That’s when we had to move onto plan C…Seems those little conduit connectors come with a rather flimsy nut on the side that connects to your boxes. I shopped around, and came up with a jam nut that will work…BUT, it’s size is making me re-design how to bend the conduit, and I now need a couple washers…

I was planning to have the legs DONE by now…instead, we haven’t even started, and we’ve had to scrap some conduit in the process…

It was bad enough that our second son got addicted to Finding Nemo, and I had to watch that thing every day for a few years while he was growing up. Now, our daughter is hooked on it as well…

Well, just keep swimming. We’ll be getting there. And anyone wondering why we start in January? Things like this…