Portfolio of Carol Hamre

Moose

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In the play Middle Ages the design calls for a moose head on the wall that rotates when it is shot.  Because a moose head was beyond our budget I carved one from styrofoam.  It was rigged with a pole in the back and on cue a stagehand quickly rotated the head until it was upside down.

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The following pictures are some of the process I used to create "Larry," as the crew nicknamed him.

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I carved him with a serrated steak knife.

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Gradually he started looking like a moose.

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Larry started out as a stack of styrofoam glued together with liquid nails.

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When I achieved the shape I wanted I glued on pieces of short napped furry fabric. 

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His eyes are made of sections of styrofoam balls that I coated with joint compound.  When they were dry I sanded them smooth and painted them gloss black.
 
His ears are made out of cardboard from a cereal box and covered with fabric.
 
His antlers were the biggest problem.  First I experimented with coat hangars and they flopped over.  Then I made them from luaun and they were flat, making him look like a cartoon. 
 
Finally, I cut antler shapes from luaun, sectioned them in numerous places and hot glued them back together in a curve.  On top of that I sectioned 1" styrofoam and covered both sides of the luaun.  I used newspaper and glue to cover the edges of the foam and make them smooth.  Finally I scumbled a couple different colors of paint on them and stuck them in his head with liquid nails.
 
His fur has shadows and countours painted onto it with acrylic paint.
 
Lastly, I designed and cut out a board to mount him on.  The pipe to rotate him with was attached to the back of the board and he was slid through a larger pipe in the wall where he could be manipulated.

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