Cockroach City Baby!

[gafftaper]

Yep we are doing "The man who came to dinner". I'm curious if anyone has any ideas for creating the cockroach city. While I can easily just have a box you can't see into, it would be fun to create some sort of aquarium like device that is black and slowly moving around on the inside. I'm in a black box and the audience is 15' away so details need to look good.

 

[BrianWolfe]

How about an aquarium filled with real cockroaches.

 

[SweetBennyFenton]

How about an aquarium filled with real cockroaches.

Nah... at any college, the local chapter of PETA would get in an uproar.

Maybe something with with a small fan blowing air around the aquarium and little fake bugs or pits of black plastic would move around due to wind?

 

[MNBallet]

you really wouldn't need to actually see any cockroaches. You could just get the aquarium, fill it with that light hamster bedding stuff and then burry a device that rotates, somthing like a rod with nails or screws that would make the fluff poke up and then go back down.

Or, get one of those cat toys that has a motor in the ball? just seeing something under the bedding move should be creepy enough.

 

[gafftaper]

Any ideas on where to get a CHEAP battery powered motor that runs slowly... or better yet slow and irregular?

Hmm... thinking on my feet maybe a remote control car wheel with spikes that nock against something. It could be turned on and moved faster and slower from off stage. I think it's going to be a plywood case with a plexi front window... cheaper than a fish tank.

 

[jonliles]

Check your local newspaper and/or craigslist for fishtanks. You can often get a used one for 10-bucks or less. I think you are on the right track with using RC car parts ---- maybe replace the bottom of the tank with a piece of metal or thin (1/8th" or less) ply with a small rumbler underneath it (I've used that method on model RR's).

 

[dvsDave]

Check your local thrift shops as well. I've seen fishtanks numerous times at thrift shops. If you have a local petshop see if there are any defective (i.e. leaking) fishtanks that you could get for a song.

Also in pet stores, the little motorized ball for cats (has a mouse looking thing attached) works great. Caveat: Not the quietest motor one could find.

 

[gafftaper]

I think it's going to be a plywood case with a sheet of plexi on one side (and maybe the top). This is really cheap, makes it easier to hide the movement gizmo inside, and keeps it darker too. He's supposed to have some sort of sound listening device built into the case. So I can mount some knobs on the front easily this way. I still need some sort of slow moving or randomly moving device inside and a way to disguise it that will look good.