Disneyland Costume - page 6

back to the introduction

Thunder Mountain Railroad

Thunder Mountain railroad is a roller coaster, and I planned for this attraction to have a tiny roller coaster moving inside, similar to the Matterhorn model.

I started with another 5-gallon plastic bucket. Although this mountain would be covered with paper mache, I couldn't rely on an entirely chicken wire construction.

The buckets are very lightweight and strong, and the precise cylindrical shape would ensure that my interior movement wouldn't get caught up on unexpected design flaws.

The moving train cars would be visible through this cutaway. The plastic walls of a five-gallon bucket are too thick safely cut with a razor knife.

I use a razor knife.

I used two circles of black foamboard to construct a featherweight double-decker turntable.

The turntable was mounted on a slow, battery-powered motor, designed for turning a disco ball. The only part of that motor visible in this photo is the very top of the driveshaft in the center of the turntable above.

Two tiny aluminum tubes are hot glued to the foamboard. They hold a long metal rod which acts as a cotter pin to hold the turntable to the shaft.

After checking the clearance as the motor turned, I added Thunder Mountainous rock formations with chicken wire. This would be covered with paper mache.

Dumbo, The Flying Elephant ride

The map layout indicated a tiny Dumbo ride, not much larger than a bagel. I used more air-dry clay to fashion a tiny elephant body, shown here upside down.

Next I added four tiny legs. I added a wrinkly skin texture with a scanning electron micrograph.

Just kidding. Those are my fingerprints in the clay.

Please Continue Reading Page 7 >

back to the introduction