Bridge of Death – Page 2 – An Unorthodox Halloween

Bridge 80%

Been busy over here. Starting a new job, couple different injuries to my left shoulder/ribs (and I’m a lefty), which explains a lot of the quiet around here.

But, this last weekend, we got a lot of work done on the bridge, with a lot of help from the boys. Especially Kyle.

From Bridge of Death

He did a lot of the heavy lifting, nailing, drilling, etc. But, Alec is responsible for the random nature of the design.

From Bridge of Death

This is something of a miracle as it’s the first time he’s understood “random”. Just 9 months ago, his idea of random was p e r f e c t l y s p a c e d s k u l l s.

From The Harvest

So, bridge is about 80% for this year. We need to figure out the corner…

From Bridge of Death

And, need one more section at the end.

From Bridge of Death

Then we need some kind of ramp at either end…don’t know how I’m doing that yet.

Going to be doing a bunch of business travel for the foreseeable future as well, so, hopefully we can finish this off.

Chimera 2

Chimera 2 has begun to take shape, with a lot of help from Kyle.

From 2011 buildup

(and that is Talia’s interpretation of it in chalk. She calls it “a silly anaconda”)

With Chimera 1 being built specifically to be staring into the eyes of a trick or treater, Chimera 2 is built specifically to tower over them.

(Kyle resting on the bridge)

From 2011 buildup

One of the best branches I’ve ever seen. I might end up embellishing this “hand”, but I don’t know it needs any.

From 2011 buildup

Star Wars?

Always fun to spend time with the Family over the 4th.

If nothing else, it gives me a chance to hear what all my neighbors are saying. It is also Fred’s birthday.

Among the more bizaar things being said?

“He has some kind of Star Wars guy out doing the countdown.”

Star Wars?

I’m really not seeing how we get Star Wars out of the Chimera.

However, it is an intriguing area of potential inspiration. The concept art on Darth Maul alone yields some potential so strong, it’s worked it’s way into Star Wars canon in the ‘extended universe’ of games and TV.

And, while there was a lot of science and industrial aspects, there is also, perhaps even more, a very natural and organic element to the Star Wars universe. The amount of source material is near infinite…

In some other news, we completed the second prototype piece of the Bridge of Death. The sections lock together great, and it’s holding up just as intended. We only have 5 more sections to make…maybe 6. And I’m still a little iffy on how we’ll get the corner piece done.

Bridge of Death update.

The Bridge of Death is finally getting some work.

The good folks over at Mill Creek Hollow were kind enough to not only share with me how they made their own boardwalk in 2009, but give me permission to use their pics here.

A simple matter of some runners, some used decking, and a nail gun.

They have since upgraded to the haunter’s holy grail of a PERMANENT path, complete with underground fog machine access…Check out the 2010 gallery.

With this info in hand, we set out prototyping our own ‘Bridge of Death’.

Using fence slats, I wanted some more support, so a 3rd runner was added. And, I wanted just a touch more height to delineate the boardwalk from the lawn just a tad more, so we added some crossbeams to the bottom of the skids.

The idea being to use the ‘tongues’ at the end to lock skids together, I still need to test that particular idea…I’m not sure how easy it will be to actually utilize, or whether it’s needed or not just yet. The kids sure did enjoy using the staple gun to attach the slats, however.

“Garbage”.

It’s been a weekend of garbage.

Kyle’s armor had hit a snag:

How to make the chain mail?

Mostly needed to attach the different plates, but also to look proper. The initial plans were to find some fabric at the stores to look the part.

The problems with this approach were two fold. First, nothing looked right at the fabric store. Second…it meant I needed to sew. Which is a laughable assertion.

I got some suggestions to try a sweater, which would have certainly solved the Hauberk (shirt) situation…and left the legs.

Finally, I got a suggestion to utilize thermals.

A stroke of genius really. If I could find them. In the spring. Even the local thrift stores were coming up dry, when one told me to check their garbage. They’d thrown a bunch out for the year.

And, with that, the armor is swiftly moving forward. The left arm is a little behind schedule due to a rework on it’s plates, and I’ve added the bottom of the hauberk to the breastplate since the picture.