RELEASE the....yeah, you know - Lisa

IT'S DONE!  Sure I have some wires to trim.  I still haven't decided if I want to glue washers to look like suckers.  I hope to actually put it on and take pictures very soon.  And of course I'll be wearing it this weekend at Nova Albion.  

It is big.  It is heavy.  I am happy.  

You really can't see the butterfly bustle in this picture. And I forgot to buy batteries.  So I'll have to post another picture tomorrow.  Thing is, it hung like this all night and NOTHING FELL OFF!

What you can't see is that the eyeball casing opens and closes to allow access to batteries and to turn the eyes off and on.  And the latches I bought to keep it closed were too big.  So right now it is help closed with masking tape.  Worst case I will use clear packing tape to keep it closed.

Here is a side view.  See how the belt is pulling away?  This is what had me concerned.  This will pull my waist bands every which way and look crummy.  THIS is why I made the swiss waist.  And a butterfly bustle made with window screening.

Now I can wear the kraken with impunity.  Things can pull any which way an no one will see.  Everything will be stable and hidden underneath. 

I finished that last night too!  See the clever elastic sides?  Easy to hook and the hooks stay taut.  It also has clever little rings hanging in the front.  For gear.

Kraken McNuggets - Lisa

Here is the body (just a couple of tweaks to finish).  Nothing about this construction worked as planned.  Everything I thought I could 'fix' with filler, rub n buff, glue...NOPE! IT DIDN'T WORK.  See? I'm still frustrated.  I have one really ugly spot. I just can't make it better.  I give up.

The hinged section above is where the body will attach to the eye casing.  And another photo to show the tentacles (HALF the tentacles) taped in place.  Tonight's the night.  I will put it all together.  I will post pictures once I've toasted the end of construction.  I still don't know if it will hold together.  That is something I couldn't test.  Finally, I'd like to share my secret shame...

This is half of my bed.  I've been watching old science fiction, new science fiction and crap TV while constructing.  I have often fallen asleep while working.  My bed has looked like this for a month.  I have woken to hammers and wire cutters poking me in the back.  I've lost bills, and my kid's homework on my bed.

I'm not proud.  In fact I'm pretty mortified.  I made a promise to myself to get this done for Nova Albion which is next weekend.  I still have things to do on it, and on the garments that go with it.
I won't quit.  But I do want my bed back.

Things I would do differently - I really tried to make this out of metal and use proper metal working techniques to put it together. I will never drink that Kool-Aid again.  I have friends that do metal work.  If I need to join metal, I will hire them to do it for me.

Things I learned - some things just won't glue together; and the best made model don't translate to reality as easily as hoped.

B' Bye for now.

I just read this, and it sounds like I hate my kraken.  I don't.  In fact, I cannot wait to wear it.  It was a humbling experience and real life has got me tired and stressed.  But no worries!  Wearing a kraken bustle really WILL make me happy!

Putting Kraken parts together UPDATED- L

A quick glimpse of the nearly finished eye casing.

The bubble wrap background will likely be replace with something less obvious, even though it DOES look kind of awesome.

By the end of the day today the eyes and the body will be connected and the tentacles underway.

And the best part?  The wavering lines of the plasma ball hypnotized one of my cats.  He sat and stared for nearly an hour; occasionally leaning in to sniff.

I have now started working with my fourth type of glue. This one works well.  Unfortunately it can only be used to glue flat surfaces together.

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I'm NEARLY ready to put this together which WILL include tentacles.
My lack of experience and proper tools is hurting.  I have tried so many, many glues.  Most take 36 hours to set.  This means it takes a couple of days for me to learn the extent of my various failures.  But I have not given up.  I have loads of tiny cuts on my hands.  I have random glue blobs to clean off my 'head'.  I still have some aging and pounding with a hammer to do.  I'm really looking forward to the hammer part.

My current struggle is to get the flaps around the eyes to lay flat.  They don't want to lay flat.  Nothing sticks to them.  Last night I cut the pieces that will attach the head/body to the eye unit.  And if you look carefully, you can see a plasma ball in place. I still haven't figured out how to hold the eye piece closed.  It needs to open and close to allow access to batteries.   Did I mention that this bad boy is HEAVY?  I haven't even added the tentacle tubes.  This weekend is very busy and I'm not sure I'll make much progress.  But I can hope.

On top of this, I got volunteered to help with costumes for my son's acting class.  So far, other than minor repairs, I have 4 sets of wings, a halo, 4 girl's colonial dresses (including one stars and stripes for 'Betsy Ross') and 6 boys colonial vests.  The difficult stuff comes today with 'fantasy creatures' (I know there are at least two flying cheetahs).  And I have 4 short weeks to do it all.  And no money.  Magical!!!

Release the Kraken! UPDATED- L

Due to my riveting problems (pun intended) work on the metal is slow.  My current plan is to glue all the parts and add rivets afterward.  The glue requires at LEAST 36 hours to set properly.  I can only glue a little at a time because the curves try to pull straight. Masking tape won't hold multiple sections in place while the glue sets.  I have about 3 'glue sessions' left to get the bulk of the 'head' put together.  Then some pounding, drilling, and riveting.

In the mean time, I have been working on the case to  hold the eyes.  Initially this seemed simple to me. Because I didn't think.  I'm still using my original metal for this, and it's very thin and soft so I've had to reinforce it.  There are two of these pieces which will surround the eyes.  I have to add hinges and a latch.

That is on the agenda for today or tomorrow.  Then I'll reinforce the eye opening and add padding and stuff to hold the eyes in place.  It's heavy.  I still need to attach tentacles and a way to attach it to ME!

And speaking of tentacles, here are the parts I've put together...

I'm not sure about the EL wire yet.  As a concept it is very appealing, but adding the switches and access to them is problematic.  I will be painting the clear tubing somehow.

Finally, I'm also making a jacket.  I made a LOT of progress on it this weekend.  The bodice and lining are made.  The sleeves are nearly made.  The collar is made.  Everything is fit.  I'm fairly confident I can finish it this week EXCEPT for embellishments.  I'm not 100% set on what I will do.  As long as I don't set the sleeves, I'll still have access to sew on trim.  And I can do it by hand too.  Here's a peek at the back - dark grey wool with black satin piping.  The lapels will be a textured black wool, and the collar is black velvet.  It hasn't even been pressed yet!  I was running a little late to work this morning and didn't get a picture of the pressed bodice.

         

And a quick hint of the eye...













               










  *    *    *    *    *

I got my Ass in gear!  I got crackin'!  Seriously, could we make any MORE silly puns?

I'm back with heavier metal and new finishes.  My hands are beaten up, nicked and scrapped. And it's starting to take shape.

 First, I tested finishes.  This looked very promising.  Brass for the base of the 'head' and riveted strips, and aluminum ducting heated and then waxed with copper Rub N' Buff.  I included a sample of the original aluminum and a rivet.

 But then I started to heat the aluminum.  This takes off the 'shiny' so the finish looks more realistic and aged.  And I got these really awesome patterns.  This is a direct result of my notorious impatience.  I wiggle.  And every time I wiggled, I got a swirl.  

I decided that, as much as I LOVE me a copper finish, the swirls looked fantastic.  (yes, I tested to see if they would show thru the copper because that would be best of all worlds...and no they didn't).  I threw a coat of varnish on the ducting and set to riveting.

And it is HARD TO DO.  I have to slice the brass strips so they bend.  Crimping them looked terrible.  One of the aluminum strips will NOT be riveted.  I feel glue in my future.  In fact, all of this will be reinforced with glue before I try to wear it.

And just in case you have NO IDEA what I have in mind, here is a very crappy drawing of 'sort of' that this will be when I'm done.

Or at least what I want it to be when I'm done.

Sorry for so many things about this drawing.  The top of the pictures is a person (ME!) wearing the Kraken as a bustle.  The brown square is how it attaches to my body.  Sort of a wide, boned belt.The kraken with it's sparkly eyes is sitting on my bum.  The long tentacles go over my shoulders and the smaller tan tentacles go around my hips.  Top tentacles are corrugated plastic tubing.  Bottom tentacles are clear plastic tubing.  There may some EL wire in there too.

The tidier drawing is what it looks like from the top. The white circles are where the top tentacles attach.

Riveting problems abound.  Power tools may be employed.

Send good wishes my way!!!!!