# Dragon Head build



## neverhart (Sep 5, 2011)

We're doing a Game of Thrones theme this year mostly because I've wanted to build an animatronic dragon for years. (-:

I hadn't done much foam crafting so I wanted to start relatively modestly. Although there are some awesome dragon builds online, I couldn't find a lot that was applicable to my application. Finally found this Mad Art Lab project (and plans!) for masks for a theater project and liked the basic shape (I'll probably flesh out the snout as it might be a little beaky for a GoT dragon.) (On the other hand, dinosaurs used to be chickens, so... ). Downloaded his PDF, and cut the patterns on my Silhouette Cameo. Didn't really have much of a sense of scale as the project page is a little light on the finer details. I scaled the whole thing so the biggest piece (the jaw) JUST fit on the largest piece of 10mm EVA foam I had. Aiming at a head around 4' long. (Ordered the foam from a cosplay supply place online: SKSProps.com)

Traced, cut. Went smoothly.

Dragged my feet over the heat gun/shaping step (didn't have a form to shape over,) but it turned out fine (used a soccer ball and my hands) and while it probably helped a little, it didn't seem super critical since glue is holding the curves etc.

Finally got to the glue-up... used the oft-recommended Barge cement and it worked much better than the Elmer's I've used previously. Most info I'd seen recommended glueing both sides, waiting 5-10 minutes for it to dry, then piecing them together, but in the 90 degree heat in my garage (yes with doors open!) here in Cincinnati it was pretty much slop n' go.

The project I was following isn't really a step-by-step tutorial, so I was making best guesses here and there, but it eventually all made sense, and it was really exciting seeing the shape take form in three dimensions.

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The original project is kind of a upper body mask/costume for someone to wear in a stage production, so I knew there were going to be some issues to figure out going forward, but I needed to get this completed so I knew what size to make the underlying armature. (Specifically, neither the snout or lower jaw have a mouth interior, and the lower jaw doesn't have a bottom piece or a pivoting mechanism suitable for my application in the original plans.) Beggars can't be choosers though, so I'm happy to have gotten any help at all!

My goal is to mount this on an aluminum frame, and animate it (eyes/eyelids, jaw, maybe head rotate) and do sound and fire/red-lit smoke FX, so I have a lot more to figure out before it's viable, but I'll stop in now and then to update ya!

Thanks HF for everyone's ideas and input over the years that built my confidence up to the point where I felt (reasonably) comfortable undertaking this feat. I'd encourage anyone who interested in trying foam crafting to give it a go - it's a really fun and relatively easy medium to work with! Go big or go decorate for Christmas!-)


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

What you have so far looks great! Be interesting to see how it all works out in the next few months.


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## Batbuddy (Sep 3, 2014)

Looks cool!


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## Hairazor (Mar 13, 2012)

Great start


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## neverhart (Sep 5, 2011)

*Update 1*

Thanks guys! Appreciate the encouragement.

A little progress... as much as I can make with a 2.5yo in the house. Even though the foam is not totally finished (nostrils? horns? ears?) I wanted to get to as much of the underlying skull armature/mech as I could now that I knew the dimensions it had to fit inside.

I began just by bending some aluminum strapping to the size of the dragon's upper jaw... and then just added pieces until I felt the whole thing would hold together. I had some lightweight square tubing (that came as packaging for some patio furniture) that was the right size so I hacked that in as cross supports. I riveted or bolted it all together (probably some more to go) and will eventually glue it to the foam with the barge cement. (I've done this before and it worked almost too well.) The goal is to make it as light as possible: the lighter the load the better the four-bar mech I'm using works.

(Was originally a Spider-Leaper frame I made awhile ago as a make-and-take at our haunt group... man has it served us well! It pushed an alien out of a crashed UFO one year, another year it popped the Demogorgon out of Castle Byers... I keep slamming it around and it just keeps on ticking.)

The jaw needs to open and close, so I installed a door hinge (overkill but I've had some leftover for years,) as the jaw pivot... still don't really know how that's going to work, but I'm thinking some aluminum L-channel for some extra strength and a piston located near the back of the head.

Also lying around is a bearing plate - really just a lazy Susan - that can hold 500lbs, so I'm wondering if I can work that into the build/animation without adding too much time to the process.

Next up is attached the lower jaw, inserting some eyes, running some tubing for fog, and figuring how this whole mess works.

The pics aren't very detailed, but hopefully provide the gist. Thanks for reading!


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## neverhart (Sep 5, 2011)

*Update 2*

Took me awhile to get Update 1 posted - uploading/linking photos to this forum seems harder than I remember? - so here's Update 2.

Got the lower jaw more figured out... the tricky part was figuring out how much room there was going to be when the top foam shell was on as the lower jaw needs to sort of fit inside the top jaw so it can close. It required a lot of assembly, disassembly, trimming, reassembly, etc.

The L-bracket worked well structurally, providing a strong base for the lower jaw, and (completely unplanned) a little lip to support what will become the floor of the lower jaw (the part under the tongue.) I think with the floor of the mouth installed (foam, or maybe fabric to keep it light) the underside of the jaw might be necessary since the audience won't be able to see it. I need clearance there due to the four bar mech.

A modest piston should be able to move the lower jaw with no problem, I just need to figure out where to mount it. I don't think it'll need much throw... the mouth probably doesn't need to open that far. The location is also tricky: due to the central four bar mechanism that the head is sitting on, I can't put the piston in the exact middle, so I'm probably in for some trial and error there. That's probably the next step.

I was thinking of doing some cool servo eyes, but I found some cheap and simple flat dragon eyes that are the right size... might simulate the motion with LEDs.

thanks!


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

JoAnn Fabric's has dragon eyes! I'm going shopping!:jol: 

Thanks for the update on your progress. You're definitely building this guy to last.


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## neverhart (Sep 5, 2011)

*Update 3*

Crunch Time Begins...

Wound up locating the cylinder on top of the center bar... a lot of experimentation on the exact position and angle... it's probably the best position for leverage but sort of awkward to support (as you can see by the janky mounting solution in the pics.)

I'm going to be controlling two different cylinders (one to move head forward, one for the jaw,) and one needs way more pressure than the other, so there will be one supply line that gets split into two different pressure regulators, and two different solenoid valves... so I built a control panel to lay out all the pneumatics and control electronics on, to make tweaking easier. Going to make a Harbor Freight run this week to get the stuff that will make all this possible, but I was finally able to hook enough up to see the jaw move tonight! Only took 20-25psi to get it moving.

































Next steps are to finish up and test the two pneumatic motions at the same time, then finish up the dragon's foam skin (horns! nostrils!) so my wife can get working on the painting. The plan is for the dragon to be peeking out a sort of dungeon window, so I'll have to get on building that too, but at least now I have concrete dimensions and sizing to start working out the particulars!


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

That looks fabulous!


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## neverhart (Sep 5, 2011)

*Update 4*

Thanks Roxy!

Small but important updates:

Had some air leaks on one of the cylinders... the push-on fittings I used were supposed to be self-sealing, but apparently that wasn't enough to stop leaks, so I rewrapped each fitting with Teflon tape and reinstalled. Fixed!

Got the inside panels of the mouth built, now I need to install the teeth... complicating this issue is that the teeth can't be too long or they'll hit the opposite panel when the jaw is closed. I've 3D printed some teeth of various sizes, and plan on casting a bunch of copies in urethane foam, which should be easy to sand down if necessary. I've never casted with this stuff, so I'm not entirely sure what to make the mold from?

In the video, I'm triggering both the forward/back motion and the jaw open/close. You can see a white tube hanging down which will be the fog (fire) pipe... haven't tested how aggressively the fog exits the tube. Might need a fan assist, or maybe a nozzle? My vision is a vigorous stream of fog shooting out, lit with red and yellow lights to simulate fire. Hopefully the fog machine won't be in a heating phase when called upon. (-;

The head has a lot more finishing to go (nostrils, horns, spikes, beard, fringe, etc.) but with the majority of the construction out of the way I'm looking forward to taking some time to finish it!


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## Batbuddy (Sep 3, 2014)

Its looking great! Casting urethane foam can be done in a plaster mold IF you wax coat the mold first. get some bee's wax or maybe paraffin and dissolve it in paint thinner or similar solvent and swirl it around in you mold until it is coated then let the solvent evaporate or gently warm your mold to force evaporation. You then should be ready to fill with foam.


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## neverhart (Sep 5, 2011)

Awesome info thanks BatBuddy!


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## neverhart (Sep 5, 2011)

*Update 5: Horns!*

The pattern I found for the dragon's head did not include horns, so I found a pattern for some bull horns from Evil Ted. They were originally scaled for a cosplay helmet, so I had to scale up again- think I did 300% or so- which created horns that were way too long, but I knew I could cut them down later. What I didn't know is how hard it would be to cut them down the SAME WAY later. (-;














































They are light enough that I think I can attach them to the head with a (plastic?) bolt and a couple large washers to spread out the load. I'd like the horns to be removable for storage.

I'm using the venerable Octobanger as a prop controller, and I'd hacked a fog machine remote to be switched by it, so I did get to test that out... it worked, although my streak as Fog Machine Killer remains unchallenged and an anemic squirt of wispy transparent fog was the only result, so no pics.

Anybody have any pointers on lighting the fog to look like fire?


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## Batbuddy (Sep 3, 2014)

This is getting pretty neat! For lighting the smoke to look like fire I would use some LEDS located as close to the source of smoke as possible pointed in the same direction as the smoke and organized in a circle around the jet. I made one of those false fires before and expect that this would be similar. I would use orange and maybe one or two blue and maybe a couple of red on the outer edges. My 2 cents about foggers...If it is just wispy it might be the fog fluid is watered down too much. I have read dozens of fog juice MSDS's and they are either propylene glycol or glycerine (glycol), and water. I would recommend adding some of one of these and seeing if that helps. FYI glycerine is usually available as a skin protectant at most pharmacies over the counter.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

This is an epic build!


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## Daphne (Oct 18, 2006)

This is SO cool!

OK, I have one question and two suggestions.
1. How do you simulate movement in the eyes with LED's? Never heard of that.

Now the suggestions.
1. Is it possible you are using cheap fog juice? I use Froggy's and it is wonderful.

2. For cool looking fire, try a red Fire and Ice light to put in his/her throat. I'm using one in my cauldron (in fog) and probably a red/yellow one in the embers below. They have them at Walmart and some of the Halloween stores like Spirit but hurry because they sell out every year. They are $14.88 in the store but here is a link to show what I'm talking about. (hope its ok to post a link, I'm just showing what it looks like)

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Gemmy-Li...MI0p3-huqe5QIV4o5bCh0tTgfXEAQYBSABEgKVW_D_BwE


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Well, if the fog will only come out in spurts from the nose, or from the mouth when it's open, I'd consider using a CREE led flashlight mounted in the nose or mouth with a colored gel (like those used on stage lights) to tint the light. They typically run off of an 18650 or the AA sized battery that can be recharged, and last a long time. Most of those flashlights have a strobe option as well as a couple of power levels for a constant beam.


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## neverhart (Sep 5, 2011)

*Thanks for the input!*

Thanks everyone for the awesome input and kudos! 16 Days!

BatBuddy: once again a font of knowledge on a variety of topics! I had to google MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) to realize you found a cool way of getting to the chemistry of fog juice! (Kind of like browsing the US Patent Office!-). I think the fog line is clogged - happened to me a few times before. I'll either replace the line and all the juice in the reservoir or use one of my other foggers (that I replaced the pumps on last year.). I traded up to a premium fog fluid brand and still manage to gum them up. I also like the ring o' light idea... keep the fog in the light for the maximum amount of time (before the wind takes it.) Wonder if a Neopixel Ring (16 x 5050s) from Adafruit would be bright enough?

Thanks again Roxy! I'm excited to be one of the first home gamers attempting this!

Daphne: I guess for the eyes I was thinking like maybe an LED matrix (grid) that contained "frames" of an animation or something like that. As it turns out, the craft dragon eyes from JoAnn do NOT diffuse light from the back at all so I'm kinda back to square one. I have some acrylic Christmas ornament hemisphere/globes that I'll probably use, but still unsure how to mount and how a more sophisticated servo mechanism would withstand the thrashing around. That might have to come next year, darnit. And I love the Fire&Ice lights! Maybe that could be mounted underneath the forward position of the dragon to add to the effect? Thanks!

fontgeek: I hadn't thought of strobing the light... great idea! The battery-powered superbright flashlight also sounds like a great fallback plan when I run out of time. Sigh. Every year: "Next year I'll start earlier!"

Thanks again for the feedback and input ya'll!


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## Batbuddy (Sep 3, 2014)

The Neo pixel ring is a super great idea! I would think it would be bright enogh. Yes MSDS's are great ways of understanding the components of products I have done many DIY knockoff's from MSDS's. Thanks for the compliments too.:winkin:


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## neverhart (Sep 5, 2011)

*Final Update*

Halloween morning was super rainy, so we wound up setting up the dragon in the garage... then the rain stopped around 4, which was too late to move him. I was glad I didn't though as the temps in Cincinnati plummeted, which brought the wind.

Backing up a few days... I modeled a nose for him to make his beak less pronounced and it REALLY helped the look. I just used some Crayola Magic clay... I wrapped it around the form to help it hold on, but it needed a little glue in the end.










I designed and 3d printed out some horn nubs in three sizes... I had originally intended to mold and cast duplicates, but my printer is dialed in, and with 20% infill on the "rough" setting, it only took 1.5hrs for 12. I even wound up using them as teeth. I was running out of time at the end, and hot glued them on, knowing they'd probably drop off and wasn't disappointed... I gave them to the ToTs as souvenirs. And others I used to hide the bolts holding the skin on to the head by gluing Harbor Freight rare earth magnets to the underside of the nubs.










I 3d printed some eyes with transparent filament, and the infill pattern wound up looking really organic and interesting. I wired up some RGB LED tape segments to a controller I found, so I can set the color of the eyes with a remote. Extravagant? Maybe. Convenient? Yes. Next year I'd like them to pan and blink.

The neopixel ring around the fog pipe was going to work great... I printed a support that wound up being too small so I just twist tied it on top, and used some wire to hold it and the fog pipe in position. I wired it up and it worked fine, but when I put everything into position, the mouth opening rubbed against one side and yanked a (super fine) wire out, which was a little finicky to fix in situ in the cold wind. I'd like to fix it and set it up in the garage before tearing the dragon down just to see what the fog would have looked like through the light.
























The dragon mech sat on an IKEA dining table I've been using as a workbench for a few years. I built a dungeon surround to make it look like the dragon was being held in a dungeon that clamped onto the table and was nice and stable in the wind. The side towers were just furring strips skinned with black garden cloth... I've found it lets the wind pass through a little better than plastic sheeting. The tower gave me a place to hide lighting, and hid backstage pretty well.






So all in all it was a fantastic head start on next year... the dragon can be repainted and repurposed into any number of dragons (Smaug anyone?) and monsters, and I have plenty of improvements I'm excited to implement (eyes panning and blinking, some ears, a neck... etc.)


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## Batbuddy (Sep 3, 2014)

Man this turned out awesome. Good work!


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Very impressive! The head with the additional ornamentation looks great and you have a rock solid base upon which to add embellishments.


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## Daphne (Oct 18, 2006)

That turned out awesome! Well done!!

Something I just thought of if you have any additional issues. Years ago, I had a fogger that wasn't working. It was not a cheap fogger and I wasn't using cheap juice either. Someone suggested I take a needle and ever so gently, push it in the hole just a tiny amount where the fog comes out. Once you feel resistance STOP! I barely pushed the needle in before I felt resistance. It fixed my fogger and I've never had another problem. Again, you barely push it in at all. Not sure what is behind the nozzle but I was warned not to get into it.


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## neverhart (Sep 5, 2011)

Thanks Daphne! I'll definitely give that a shot next time.

Wanted to deliver a final follow up, even if it's not the triumph I'd hoped for. I designed and printed a support for the Neopixel Ring, which also holds the fog tube. It works really well...






I then gave it a couple blasts of fog to see the result and wasn't really overwhelmed.






It appears as if it just isn't bright enough to really light the fog up a whole lot... or maybe the fog doesn't really act as an efficient diffuser? Maybe more of a strobe/flash might draw more attention to it? Anyway, it lights up the inside of the mouth okay. I'll probably redesign for next year, and add some external lights to beef it up.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Hey, there’s always time to tweak, and even if it wasn’t quite what you were hoping for, it’s still an impressive project.


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## Batbuddy (Sep 3, 2014)

Well it still looks cool. May just need some brighter/More powerful lights. The smoke output is a pretty great jetstream and I can imagine it as fire, it just needs the lighting in the right spot...


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## Greg G (Nov 4, 2012)

That is so cool. Possibly adding lights at the upper and lower inner snout end of the mouth might help?


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## Daphne (Oct 18, 2006)

I agree with everyone, its an impressive prop. You did a fantastic job.

Greg G makes a good point. You might want to play around with the lights and placement, I fought that battle with a new animatronic for a couple months and its insane how moving/changing the lights around affects everything. Don't be afraid to experiment with different kinds of lights either. I ended up mixing lasers with an RGB tape strip from Home Depot that lets you change color and was finally able to get what I was looking for. It lets you select a solid color if you want (so many lights cycle through all the colors which is great if that is what you want but I didn't). You could probably attach it around the mouth and really light things up. I think this is it. 
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commerc...oor-LED-Tape-Light-w-Remote-C624340/307883099

As an alternative, the laser lights they sell at the holidays also work really well to light up the fog. I used this one with the tape and it works like a dream. 
https://www.homedepot.com/p/LightSh...;308068469;302431603;310781798;206584554;3121

I mixed the tape light with 2 lasers and had the tape fade in/out. The tape was set to a different color from the laser. It gave the fog a primary color with undertones from the other. Something else I did that may help was line the sides (not where people could see it) with a giant silver mylar balloon that someone released that ran out of helium and somehow landed on my deck ha ha. It reflects the light everywhere. I'm not sure if you would see the mylar in the roof of the mouth but it works well to bounce the light back out if you could.

Great fog output BTW!


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## neverhart (Sep 5, 2011)

Thanks Daphne, Greg and BatBuddy!

Daphne: I replaced the entire pump on that fogger (AmericanDJ) and another one (a Monoprice special) and the output on both was vastly improved (especially considering they were basically non-functional.) I don't know how long the new pumps will last, but I'm assuming the original pumps are the cheapest they can find, and even a modest upgrade yields a pretty obvious improvement!

I think lighting the fog from beneath - in front of the mouth - might be the ticket. I have a few fire and ice lights, so those could help. Plus, I have some DMX moving lights... maybe I could program those to provide some more motion to the flame... ya know, if the wind stays unseasonably calm and doesn't blow it away as soon as it exits the nozzle.

This year my family is doing a Lord of the Rings theme, so the dragon is now Smaug! I've started working on a neck for him, which will be aluminum strapping (as the neck 'bones') covered with material. It's tricky because the mech that pulls him forward is in the front, so the neck will have to split to allow for that linkage and stay out of the way as it's bouncing around. 

The surround I built last year to hide the behind-the-scenes is two tall pyramids on either side of the table that holds the mech. I originally chose that shape because it was an efficient use of materials, but I realized it kinda looks like giant wings folded up, so I'm hoping to dress those with folds of fabric to look the part. 

The last part of the plan is to hide the table he sits on with a gold 'tablecloth' gilded with (hot-glued) coins and gems to simulate the Dwarven treasure Smaug presided / sat over. Maybe even the Arkenstone, who knows?

The maker I got the foam plans from featured this build on his blog post! I also got an email from another haunter saying he was planning on building his own dragon head for Halloween this year.

Hope to follow up with some updates and pics soon!


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