Monday, August 3, 2015

Wings and other aerial structures

I had a few random costuming thoughts last week. I was messing with bamboo stakes for hanging some Chinese calligraphy pages and was thinking they might not be bad for supporting a wing structure of some type - they're pretty strong and lightweight, also cheap. They do have joints, but depending on the type of wings, fins, or other aerial-type structure, they could definitely work. Then I was thinking about how if you're traveling by plane/bus/train, how would you make them smaller for travel...

So, for something that doesn't require permanent attachment to the frame, one could make the pieces shorter and use joiners to assemble the pieces and then slide them into pockets. Which led to the next idea -- tent poles. You know, the ones with the shock cords joining all the pieces? You can buy them separately at some camp places, but might be something to keep in mind, if you have or acquire an old tent that's no longer serviceable for whatever reason. With a little care you could even take some lengths of pole out and shorten to desired length.

Also, depending on what you're doing, you might be able to use the shock cord poles without using slider pockets, like if you were doing something with lacey or stretchy fabric.