OK, with an airbrush-style setup how hard is it to direct the flow of the coffeemate? I'd assume that with controlled air supply I can control how much creamer is dispensed by this sort of setup, but this is an outdoor production (no way would I even consider a full burn indoors!) in an area that's fairly well sheltered from wind. Assuming an airbrush setup, (and of course I'm testing this today so long as it isn't raining) can I expect a more directed jet of coffeemate?
Fire Breathing effect for large dragons
- Thread starterLXQuito
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OK, with an airbrush-style setup how hard is it to direct the flow of the coffeemate? I'd assume that with controlled air supply I can control how much creamer is dispensed by this sort of setup, but this is an outdoor production (no way would I even consider a full burn indoors!) in an area that's fairly well sheltered from wind. Assuming an airbrush setup, (and of course I'm testing this today so long as it isn't raining) can I expect a more directed jet of coffeemate?
tyler.martin
Active Member
Just to update y'all - the coffee creamer in airbrush delivery system is working fantastically in the trials, and has required nothing more complicated than a double-lining of industrial aluminum foil in the mouth to prevent head ignition. (although I'm probably going to layer the whole head in the final dragon, just to keep it from going up prematurely and keep everything as safe as possible. The foil also disappears nicely in higher-heat burns, which means no glinty stuff in the ash to distract.) I've also convinced the director that we need some sort of extinguisher system to put out the dragon, so it doesn't just sit there smouldering and being dangerous to the actors. It probably means I'll be out there in costume extinguishing the dragon, but I'm more than willing to do so if it keeps everything just that bit safer.
At the moment, I've got a simple ignition system out near the tongue, which seems to be in the ideal position to light the creamer without lighting the head, and it's producing rather impressive fireballs. So thank you for this solution!
I'm going to have to pay very close attention to the breeze on show night, though, because even finely directed powder has a tendency to drift a bit.
At the moment, I've got a simple ignition system out near the tongue, which seems to be in the ideal position to light the creamer without lighting the head, and it's producing rather impressive fireballs. So thank you for this solution!
I'm going to have to pay very close attention to the breeze on show night, though, because even finely directed powder has a tendency to drift a bit.
If you get to post a video of the performance, it would be awesome to see what your end result will be.
It looks like Mother Nature just scuppered us. Volcán Tungurahua kicked off a major eruption this morning, and if history's anything to go by it will be raining ash here for the next month or so. There is absolutely no way we'll be able to run any of the effects, or really even the lighting instruments, in those conditions.
Well that just figures.
OK, folkies, I'm still editing the video of the final combustion (we ended up stuffing volcano-style pyro effects into the dorsal spines - when the show went sideways the dragon went to the community league for final say, and they wanted sparks to fly!), but here's a still from the fire-breathing effect. We had a slight breeze which carried the flame further than I'd expected, but all in all it was more than satisfactory. This is Coffee-Mate combined with a bit of propellant from the can of air I was using - obviously I wasn't about to rig a remote setup for this; with ash still falling it was safer and cheaper to do it manually.
For those of you who assumed I'm a guy - you were wrong, and that's me running the compressed air in the photo.
For those of you who assumed I'm a guy - you were wrong, and that's me running the compressed air in the photo.
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