The 100 Day Dash begins.

And so it begins in earnest.
The moment I realize we're a hundred days out, the quickening begins, the pull towards creation and hair pulling and the utter joy of self-surprise when an idea long suffered bears recognizable and tasty fruit.
The same questions come every year:
-Which boxes do I get out of storage now?
-Is that (insert name of obscure material piece which I've held onto for years) going to work for this?
-Will I finally be able to use the projector for more than showing movies?
-Does this look infected?
And so on.
Scripts, songs, layouts. Paints, messes, searches through junk drawers and scrap boxes. Deciding which DVDs, VHSs and CDs will be in constant rotation while I'm making Hallowe'en.

And I live for it all.

This afternoon I made the 'Phineas' face for the Hitchhiking Ghosts, seen here with Ezra for comparison.

I also began the redesign-and-build-proper of the hoped-for Uncle Forry animatron. Bigger skull, better materials, and more moving features... the dream lives exuberantly, the reality is a matter of time and focus.
I am using some micro servos for his eyelid movement (along with other features), and they present special problems all their own. But a size comparison might be fun for the uninitiated.

Futaba Micro Servo:

Next To Standard Hitec Servo:

I also fixed the jaw servo for First Mate Ficketts, which, as mentioned in an earlier post, burned out at some late point in last year's celebration. That was the biggest headache of the day; a larger servo with better torque (look it up) will not burn out as swiftly, but fitting a larger servo into the space where a smaller servo lived for many years is daunting.
I am happy to report it worked, but only a lot of sweating and swearing got me there.

But back to Uncle Forry for a moment. Got this much accomplished today, after making Phineas and fixing Ficketts... that ought to be a song.

Yes, that's the Haunted Mansion theme. I was listening to the Haunted Mansion internet radio station on Live365.
I'm still pondering eyelid material (it's a tight squeeze and requires swift movement and needs to take paint if it's not molded in the right color already), but this is a fine start to the process.
Latex!, I hear some shout, or Silicone!
Felt!
Brass half spheres! Brushed aluminum wedges! Your own lids! (some of you are like that, don't lie).

We'll see. And I mean we; I'll post once it's ready.

Wait... it's nearly midnight CDT.
*gasp!* Only NINETY-NINE DAYS TO GO!

I like them odds.

Shpoonk out-