Angel Wings Commission Complete Pt. 2

The Angel Wings are now 100% complete! They are all rolled up and ready to package and ship. In total this project took just under 100 hours to complete and, after all that, I’m still not tired of making wings. In fact, I’ve already begun drafting new frame designs – there is always room to improve.

Angel Wings Commission Complete!

The Angel Wings Commission is 99% complete now. The final 1% is just some final touch-up work and a little bit of tweaking.

The articulated frame is hand operated via draw strings. These draw strings are fitted with swivel hooks so that when clipped into place the wings can be held fully open, hands-free.

Some of my other wings have been longer when fully closed. I redesigned the frame for this pair so that the wing tips would be further off the ground when the wings are folded. Greater length makes it very difficult to go down stairs. (In my Angel of Death costume I had to walk down stairs backwards.)

Overall I am very well pleased with this design. There are many improvements over the last pair of wings I made. I would be happy to make this model of wings again and would probably make very few alterations to this design.

Harness and Frame

Low Temp Setting Thermoplastic Harness and Wood Latice

It’s been quite some time since my last post. I’ve been exceedingly busy working on two commission pieces and putting together a portfolio for this year’s USITT conference. Progress on the wings commission has been steadily paced. I’ve completed all the necessary calculations for the harness, frame and cable system that will be used to open and close the wings. Construction of these components is now underway and should be completed in the next couple weeks.

I’ve decided to use a low-temperature setting thermoplastic for the harness this time. There are a number of advantages to using this material instead of fiber-glass. First, it is very easy to work with and fast setting which saves a tremendous amount of time. Second, it is more cost effective. Third, In the event that it does not fit the wearer comfortably it can easily be heated and reformed by the wearer at any time. Usually I would want to do a life casting of the wearer and form the harness in that mold. In this case I can not do a custom fit so it is nice to use a material that the wearer can adjust themselves if need be.