The continuation of the DOME (aka - Leonard's head)

[Jessica Rajko]

So two weeks ago we took our cardboard model and began rebuilding it with the foam. To our surprise, this wasn't quite as hard as we had expected. We figured that some modifications might need to be made in order to compensate for the extra inch of thickness not accounted for with the cardboard; however, this was not the case. (yay!) Here is a super speedy video documenting the process of building the top portion of the dome and the lower jaw.

WARNING: This looks much more productive than it actually was. Really.



Leonard Head Construction Day 1 from Ryan Spicer on Vimeo.

Last week we began exploring ways in which to fasten the head and jaw to the football shoulder pads that Shawn will be wearing. We were quickly inspired by good ol' Abe and built ourselves a foam Lincoln hat to attach to the inside of the dome in order to help support the shape and keep it from collapsing. (We think this may become a problem once we add the weight of the fabric, eyes, teeth, etc. to the foam structure.)

We also began playing with the Miditron and the fabric bend sensors via a breadboard - the Miditron progress is moving a little slower because we are waiting to see what the length/thickness of the joint areas needing fabric bend sensors will be before we make all of them (We are not yet sure how long the teeth, ears, arm joints will be. Also, the thickness of the fabric we use to cover Leonard will influence how long we need to make the bend sensors.) I will have pictures in the next blog.

That is it for now. Just to give you an idea of what is next - We are currently in the process of connecting the Lincoln hat to the dome, reinforcing the whole dome structure, and buying fabric to begin building the body of the costume this week...pictures and descriptions soon to come!

Jessica