I completely forgot that I’d taken this video when I was building the polar bear. When I went back in December, one of the things I wanted to do was give him a more substantial tail. The existing one hung down and was not very attractive–I didn’t make that one–so I wanted something that fit […]
I’ve spent most of the last two days trying to solve the issues with ventilation in ways that don’t make it really unpleasant for the actors. The thing about testing to see if the fogging still occurring is that really the only way to do it is to put the head on and start a
We took Hringur to visit the children at the hospital for the first time. As far as the kids were concerned, it was a successful visit. Unfortunately the fogging was still happening. Aðalbjörk, the actress inside, said she couldn’t see anything after about five minutes. That’s no good. But. I had them over today, and
Hringur bear visits the hospital Read More »
The jaw is creating two problems; it’s contributing to the ventilation issue, because it’s solid fiberglass, so is providing a shelf that the actor’s breath bounces against, shooting it up against the eyes. It’s also not fitting one of the actors well. This bear needs to be able to fit multiple people which provides challenges,
Mental note: Do not try to eat an unpeeled kiwi in an area with floating polar bear fur. The two are dynamically attracted to each other.
We’ve discovered that the bear has ventilation issues. I was worried about the heat buildup in the mask before I left, but it turns out that is only part of the problem. We have more of an issue with fogging in the eyes. If you’ll recall, the eyes are made of sunglasses and the mask,
Jodi and I went to the fabric store where the bear’s fur came from and bought enough to do two more bears. It’s now on its way to Iceland via U.S. Post. Initially they said that shipping would cost $238.50 (at the cheap end. The high end was $700) because the fur was too big
Well, mostly finished. I’m dropping him off at the seamstress’s tomorrow. She’ll make the doctor’s jacket for him as well as doing some finish work that I am much happier to delegate. Meanwhile, I will be getting on a plane and flying back to the States. I stopped by Gummi Þor’s to show him the
One of my co-workers was in today with his kid. She’s just started walking and is pre-verbal…not sure how old that makes her. Anyway, I fast-forwarded the latest video to the point where the bear dances. She sat there and made us play that section over and over by pointing at the screen and grunting
A wee bairn and the bear Read More »
I’m posting while I try to gather my wits. I’d opened the mouth as I planned to insert the scrim. While I had the head open, I peeled back the black fabric on the roof of his mouth to drillout some more holes for the actor to breath more easily. On the second hole, as
I met with the seamstress today and she’s confident that making the jacket will be easy. We talked about the need for the pockets to be gigantic to allow the bear’s paws inside. I’ll drop the bear’s body off with her on Saturday so she can make the pattern for the jacket. Here’s a video
It turns out that the reason I lost power yesterday was because the glue gun spontaneously developed a short. I blew power again today when I started installing the jaw. I’m off to buy a new one now. Grr. Edited to add: Hurrah! The company runner is going to pick up a new glue gun
By the time the runner got back with the glue gun, I was already far enough into the legs of the bear that I didn’t want to stop. In a minor miracle, the pattern that I was adapting for the legs and pelvis of the bear was remarkably easy to work with. I usually have
For unknown reasons, all of the electrical outlets in the workshop stopped working. I need my power tools. Argh. I did what hand work I could, but had to wrap up around four o’clock because I just ran out of things I could do.
Curses, foiled again Read More »
I started by finished stitching the gusset into the remaining arm and then inserted the boning. I pinned the arms on so I could check the range of movement with them both there. I’m pleased. My movement was absolutely unencumbered and the torso is very light. I’ve been entertaining the notion of swapping the ribs
Arms, beautiful arms Read More »