February 28, 2015
From Heidi…
“Last Sunday we completed Build #5. We made 24 stalks of corn without getting high, Jose repaired the “turd” door on the pod AND got the router working so that we could cut some really cool panels for the front.”
It was decided that one of the scenes was going to happen in a corn field.
Form Kirby …
“Now…imagine this: The pod viewport opens. The patrons find themselves in the middle of a cornfield. On the scarecrow stand is a figure. Is it a scarecrow? No…wait…it’s a person, moving slightly, barely alive, dressed in overalls, a checkered shirt, and John Deere cap. It’s not a scarecrow, it’s the farmer. Looking more closely, one can see that the famer’s eyes have been pecked out, nothing left but empty dark sockets with streaks of blood running down his cheeks onto his shirt. From the shadowy corners, the crows attack. First, pecking at the farmer’s face, then turning their attention to the pod, clawing and biting at the viewport.
And…curtain!”
Naturally, we needed some corn stalks to pull it off. Instead of using real stalks, it was thought better (and way more fun) to make our own. The construction of the stalks was an all day event. Handmade corn stalks were constructed using a technique borrowed from StiltbeastStudios.
Cornstalks: [supplies needed to make (20) 6′ cornstalks]
- (12) 1/2″ x 10′ PVC pipe
- (8) 1/2″ couplings
- heavy duty floral wire
- clear mailing tape
- plastic water bottles
- clear wrapping plastic
- underlayment
- hot glue and gun
- raffia
- darkish green plastic-friendly spray paint
- yellow plastic-friendly spray paint
- light green latex paint
- black and/or brown Sharpie
Heidi and Larry team up.
Assembly line!
Stenciled panels for the doors were designed by Hope, are resident graphic artist.
Hope designing a panel.
A CAD drawing was outputted and loaded into a CNC router machine for etching. Jose’ programed the routed and cut the panels.
Jose’ running the CNC router.
The design of the panels added to the mystic of the OctoPod. The panels were made from cheap, compressed, “scrap” wood and painted to look metical and will later be painted to look rusted. Back lighting will add the final detail to the panels.