# Dragon project



## MortalMagus (Sep 5, 2013)

Finally making progress on the dragon for our November event season closer. My main focus will be on the head, wing, and tail while the main body will be hidden out of sight and left to the players imagination.

Concept art:


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## MortalMagus (Sep 5, 2013)

Here are some pics of the frame:


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## MortalMagus (Sep 5, 2013)

Progress on the head as of last night:


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

Is that foam sheeting material your using?


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## Rahnefan (May 1, 2009)

Very cool.


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## BunchOfHocusPocus (May 23, 2012)

Wow, I can't wait to see the rest of it!


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## DandyBrit (May 23, 2013)

Lovely - dragons (and pirates) are in my top 5 obsessions. Can you make me a small one for Christmas?


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## DandyBrit (May 23, 2013)

Strike the above - I couldn't possibly afford the postage costs!!


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## Lunatic (Oct 3, 2006)

Wow, that's a large piece to build!
Can't wait to see the finished prop.
Good luck!


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

A few questions for you:
First, what are you going to use the finished dragon for?

Second, Will the finished piece be storable for future use, or is this for a one shot performance?

Third, Is the whole head and neck section going to be supported by the PVC section sticking out from that box/frame? I can see that drooping under the weight, or snapping the PVC into pieces before too long. That's a fair bit of weight at the end of a long lever, even if the head is only made of foam. I'd consider putting a piece of rebar inside of the neck and head extension to help support the stress.

Like the others, I'll be curious to see the progress on this


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## Hairazor (Mar 13, 2012)

That is going to be soooo Rad!


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## MortalMagus (Sep 5, 2013)

I bought a 1 inch piece of aluminum pole to slide into the 1.5 inch pvc on the slide portion of the neck so its holding up ok. The frame is made from 2 inch pvc and is gliued together in 4 sections so it can be broken down and stored somewhat flat. The head is slightly heavier than I thought it would be and threatens to tip the frame but with a couple sandbags that seemed to balance it.

Our plan for the event is to have the head come in through a large door frame in the hall the players will be gathered. The tail will come in through another door and the wing through the last. This should effectively hide the body and leave it to the players imagination allowing us to create the illusion of an immense dragon.

I'm building it mostly out of old couch cushions found on the side of the road and collected over a period of several years and some foam sheets I bought off foamfactory.com to skin it with and create wrinkles and texture on the face. 

For the tail I'm going to try using 5 gallon buckets seperated by smaller 1 dollar tupperware containers so they have some flex and then run some rope or wire along it in 4 sections so you can pull on the wire and make the tail flex. The wing I'm still somewhat unsure of but will likely just end up being made like a normal 2 handed boffer with fabric and used for the skin of the wing.


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## dudeamis (Oct 16, 2011)

MortalMagus said:


> I bought a 1 inch piece of aluminum pole to slide into the 1.5 inch pvc on the slide portion of the neck so its holding up ok. The frame is made from 2 inch pvc and is gliued together in 4 sections so it can be broken down and stored somewhat flat. The head is slightly heavier than I thought it would be and threatens to tip the frame but with a couple sandbags that seemed to balance it.
> 
> Our plan for the event is to have the head come in through a large door frame in the hall the players will be gathered. The tail will come in through another door and the wing through the last. This should effectively hide the body and leave it to the players imagination allowing us to create the illusion of an immense dragon.
> 
> ...


so you're going to do this for the tail


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## MortalMagus (Sep 5, 2013)

Yep, thats the plan, then skin it with fabric and foam so it won't hurt when I whip them with it.


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## MortalMagus (Sep 5, 2013)

Few progress updates: Went away for the weekend and thurss and fri were kinda cold so I wasn't able to go out and work on things too long but some progress was made on the face. Mostly I stayed inside and cut teeth so I can add those to the head and begin work on the lower jaw, neck and horns.

I'll probably try and finish the head by the end of the week so I can spend all next week on the tail and wing and painting the lizardman masks. I then need to set aside at least one day to make a latex sword and do shield spikes for a couple commissions.

Teeth:









More Teeth:









Even more teeth:









Update on the dragon's face and the lizardman wip:


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## The-Hog-Flu (Oct 21, 2013)

Pretty impressive. What are you using this for? I notice you keep saying "players".


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## MortalMagus (Sep 5, 2013)

Ah, thought I already mentioned that. I run a fantasy LARP in Massachusetts. LARP = live action roleplaying. Which is essentially an interactive game where you can play a character in a story and influence the outcome. We have been running a little over 3 years now and have about 45 players an event. Events usually take place from Friday night till Sunday afternoon and involve working together with other players to solve puzzles, vanquish foes and fairly often save the world.

I also just opened an online mask store where I'm trying to make my masks available to other games and doing some custom work. Site needs a lot of work but hopefully I won't starve.


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## Blackrose1978 (Aug 13, 2011)

looks great so far!! now I had wish I kept my old couch cushion when I got rid of old couch to garbage man.


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## MortalMagus (Sep 5, 2013)

More progress, going to try and start the mechanics of the tail tonight and finish the top of the head minus paint/ eyes.


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## Rahnefan (May 1, 2009)

Oh...ooh...ahhh...ahhhhhh! Ahh!! Ahhh!!!!!!!!!!

YES


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## The Halloween Lady (Aug 18, 2010)

Holy moly... I am speechless. That is just, um, well, ginormously cool!!!!


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

Very impressive. Love the folds under the eyes.


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## dudeamis (Oct 16, 2011)

The only LARP group in my area is more like a costumed sword fighting club, I wish we had a more traditional LARP group.


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## MortalMagus (Sep 5, 2013)

Worked on the lower jaw some and prepping the lizardman to mold today.


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

Coming along nicely


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## Drago (Sep 5, 2011)

Awesome! loving the paint buckets as counter weight


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

Wow, that's one big dragon head. I like how it's looking!


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## Headless (Sep 4, 2011)

Great progress MM!


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## The-Hog-Flu (Oct 21, 2013)

You gotta throw a fog machine or something in it's throat to make it look like smoke. That'd be bad-ass.


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## Hairazor (Mar 13, 2012)

"My, what big teeth you have", this is looking soooo good!


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## Grimm Pickins (Nov 4, 2013)

I am in awe. Seriously...


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## MortalMagus (Sep 5, 2013)

Today I finished skinning the top of the head and have a base coat of latex on it, added a bunch of teeth to the inside of the mouth and will try and finish the neck tomorrow. Tonight I mold the lizardman.


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## Mr_Chicken (Nov 26, 2008)

This is cool. Always wanted to do a giant dragon myself.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

He's looking great! I expect he will be the star of whatever setting he inhabits.


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## Death's Door (Mar 22, 2006)

I am loving the progress/stage the dragon is going through. Keep up the good work!!!


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## MortalMagus (Sep 5, 2013)

Two more full days left to finish and its so cold and windy out that today is kinda a wash on prgress. Still need to paint a bit more, add a few teeth and fabricate a bit of the neck. Not sure I'll have time for the tail but the cable and bungie came today and I already bought the buckets so I may as well try and put something together. I should also have enough latex left to mold 5 lizardmen masks and then need to do an inner mold so I can make a foam latex version to put on a headsock for a players character.

Pic of the top of the head with the ear fins mostly painted with a basecoat:


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## MortalMagus (Sep 5, 2013)

Little bit of paint on it and all the teeth in place, will add some more neck and workin on the tail today.


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

You know if you put up some lights you could work at night too 
Just kidding, This is an amazing project, looking forward to seeing the rest of it.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

I like the colors and how well you're picking out the details with the painting.


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## hauntedyards (Mar 24, 2005)

I just keep thinking "Solenoid.... propane tank... pilot light.... fire breath..." lmao


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## Georgeb68 (Mar 26, 2013)

Wholly crap, thus looks awesome!


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## Phantom Blue (Mar 5, 2013)

Very cool work.....love it!


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## MortalMagus (Sep 5, 2013)

Here is a pic of the dragon in our mod building shortly before it crashed through a wall and began eating players. They managed to prevent it from falling to its corruption and helped the dragon shake off the possession of Ktharsis a powerful specter who was trying to steal the dragons body and use it to take over the reign of his brother Erimus who the players defeated in October.


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## MortalMagus (Sep 5, 2013)




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## Hairazor (Mar 13, 2012)

I bow to your sheer talent!!!


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## discozombie (Jun 21, 2012)

really really awesome


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