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Malmesbury School Raleigh Expedition to India 2011
BUILDING THE ELEPHANT. Latest news on the Elephant - Click here.
Bob Browning, who has been responsible for producing the marvellous enormous birds for the Carnival procession over the last few years, has kindly offered to help us build a large Elephant for this year's Carnival Procession and also for other Raleigh associated events.
Dave Cooke, Barny Kenny and Rob Hinwood met at Bob's house on the Swindon Road at 9am on Thursday 25th August to receive a master class in the art of building models from Bob Browning.
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| We met at Bob's at 9am. He had already prepared some thin willow branches by soaking them overnight in water to make them flexible. The first task was to bend them into a series of circles, each one slightly smaller than the last one. |
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| Once the willow circles had been formed they were taped together at the bottom. While Barny held them in place, the others added cross braces made from the willow shoots and the shape of the elephant's head began to appear. |
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| The willow makes for a flexible, light and surprisingly strong frame. Bob has made numerous models for the Carnival Procession over the years including the famous Bustards and cranes. He learned his skills after attending a course in Cornwall. |
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| Rain drove us indoors, into Bob's garage. With the basic frame now complete it was time to add some flexi hose to make the trunk. |
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| The head will be attached to a "baby carrier" frame with two large bamboo poles (courtesy of Foxley Road Nurseries) so that the elephant will be about 8 foot high. |
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| With the frame complete it was time to add the first layer of tissue paper soaked in a watered down PVA glue. It was messy but fun. |
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| If it had been a warm sunny day the tissue paper would have dried and contracted quickly, thus producing a tight skin around the frame. As it was, the rain was incessant outside and everything stayed very wet. |
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| We had to adjourn for an early lunch just to give the tissue a chance to dry and set properly but the morning had gone surprisingly well. |
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| Dave worked on the ears for the elephant, which will be entered in the Carnival Procession under the name of "Eilmer the Elephant" but was now christened "Bob" after our esteemed and enthusiastic teacher. |
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After a couple of hours the tissue paper was just about dry enough to add the top layer. Here we added grey paint to the glue and tissue. Our day finished at 4pm with a good looking elephant's head on its way.
We aim to complete the basic work on the head on Friday and then take it, for safe storage, to one of the poly tunnels at Foxley Road Nurseries, where we hope to inveigle local artist, Clive King, to help paint in its features.
Eilmer the Elephant will be entered in to the Malmesbury Carnival in the Category Group 2 Class E (Walking Schools' entries). Judging will take place at 4pm on Saturday 4th September down near Station Yard and we must have a minimum of 4 walkers to accompany Eilmer. Although we cannot claim any money from collections (all of that must go to Carnival) this will be a brilliant way to bring the Expedition to the notice of the wider community.
More to follow. |
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Offers of any help to Graham Cooke on 01666 822596. |
For more information :
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Email |
Carol Hinwood
Graham Cooke
Linda Byrne
Miss Walker |
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Drop off / Contact points |
Carol Hinwood at Foxley Road Nurseries, Foxley Road
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Clive King at The Malmesbury Pottery, Cross Hayes. |
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