Rising Spirits(2nd Generation)

Rising Spirits (2nd Generation)

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This is a new version, I guess you could say my version of someone else's idea.

I would like to thank Terry Young and Dave The Dead, there combined ideas inspired this prop

It's fairly simple, just a bit time consuming..

To the left are pics of a pattern that starts this prop. As you can see I
Glued the pattern on a piece of plywood. I did this so I could use
the pattern over and over without using up my printer ink and paper.
If you only want to make one print it out and tape the sections to the
foam insulation board and cut it out from there.
You can get the pattern here:
Skeleton Pattern

I cut out all the pieces. I seriously doubt I will ever
use all of them, however I cut all pieces out anyway
because other ideas are swimming around in my head.
You never know when your going to need a femur
or ribcage lying around somewhere!

This is 3/4 inch insulation foam board. One 4x8 sheet
will give you 3 sets of bones to make the Rising Spirit.
If you want to make that many.
Here I have already traced one set of bones, about
to start tracing a 2nd and I have already cut out a
3rd set.
Note: For the arm bones, both right and left forearm(#44, #47)
and upper arm bones(#43, #46) you need to make 2 of
each.
I guess I should mention all bones are numbered
on the pattern.

I point these 2 pieces out because you will also
need extra of them as well.
#13, you will need 4 more.
#27, I used this one as a spacer between the ribs,
so you will need 11 more.
Also 1/4" to 1/2" from the back of #27, I cut a hole
with a 7/8 wood boring bit. This will be used as a
template so all of the ribcage aligns on the pvc.

Ok, all bones are cut out. next step,
drilling and sanding, sanding,
sanding........did I mention
sanding!

First thing, cut the palms off the Forearms.
On the pattern they show thumbs, don't worry
about them at all. Save the palms for later.

Next I made a trench down all 8
arm bone pieces just big enough to
fit a piece of polyethylene tubing.
Pictured is the upperarm pieces, you will need to do
it to the forearm pieces as well.

I ran the tubing down the trench. Using Gorilla glue, I brushed it
on and put the sections together.
Set them in an out of the way place with a few weights
on them for better contact and moved
on to the ribs.

Here's where the sanding starts. I used a Dremel sanding drum
to knock the edges off, then ran them over a palm
sander on the outside and hand sanded the inside.
The amount of sanding is up to you, you might get away
without sanding the inside if no one will be
close enough to notice.

Just a quick note, there are 2
tabs of sorts on rib 20, they are
not neccsary for this prop, so
just cut them off before sanding.

Time to use that template you made.
Set the template on the ribs and spacers
one at a time and drill a hole in each one.
Align the backs, don't worry about
the front, yet.

To the right is the stand I used, it's a 2x4 with a piece of
dowel stuck in it. You put the 31" piece of thin walled pvc on it.
Also I set a toilet paper roll over that to rest the
rib cage on, so I had a section of pvc at the bottom.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ok, the spacers you will notice become bigger and bigger
as you go up the ribcage. You need to trim down each
spacer to match the rib above it. I also sanded them
to become smooth and match the ribs.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I suggest you keep the numbers on the pieces
till the very end. Some are similar in size which you could
get them mixed up.

You will want to run them all up the pvc without
gluing them.
BTW, the numbers are 13 - 29 you will need for the ribcage.

Right above rib 18 I drilled a hole for a piece of
1/2" SDR 11 CPVC 4120 Pipe, 15" long.
I also put a slight bend in it at the 5 and 10" mark.
I made sure it fits snug. This pvc is not much
wider then a dime.

Ok, now you can glue it all together. I
brushed on Gorilla glue then set a rib, brushed glue
set a spacer, brushed glue, rib and so on, till I
hit rib 18, there I glued in the pipe then
continued on. Below is the spacer where the
pipe is. I cut it like below and only used the front and
back sections gluing to the front and back
of the pipe.

Ok, now for the arms. I started with a piece of wire 6ft long. I used
two sizes of wire, I used a 14 gauge on one of them and a 10 gauge
on the other two. Both worked just fine. I kinked/bent the wire in
the middle(as in pic A). Next I drilled a small hole in the pipe(as in
pic B). Next I ran the wire through the pipe as in the pic above, making
sure the kinked section was in the middle of the pipe where I drilled
the hole. Now I took my hotglue gun and pumped almost a full
stick (large) into the hole (as in pic C). Next I took 2 pieces of
dowel(1/2") and drilled a hole in the center and sanded them down
so they would fit in the pipe (as in pic D). I then hotglued them in.
The reason I did this was so the arms will move independently.
I made one of them without doing this and I move one arm,
they both move.

More sanding!!
In pic A the top bone is what it looks like
when I cut it out, the bottom one is what it looks
like when I was done sanding. It is the small bone
attached to the forearm. Be sure to sand larger bone
before ataching the smaller one.

I cut off the ribbed part of these plastic anchors, I only need
the top half. I used 2 on each arm bone for a total of 8.

I put one anchor in one end(pic A) then ran the bone onto the
wire, then running another anchor onto the wire
and pushing it into the other end of the bone(pic B).
This takes a bit of patience but in the end it was worth it to me.
To allow me to adjust the bones a little bit.

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