VLAD stands for Very Large Aerial Demon (aka - a giant friggin' bat)

IMPORTANT!!!!! I can't stress enough that these instructions are for building a flying demon static prop. If you decide to build a REAL flying demon, I will not be responsible for the havoc that will be wrought upon your Halloween display.

I built VLAD for our 2005 Halloween party. It went over well and is a really cool prop if you have the storage space for it. Since there are a lot of steps to building this sucker, the instructions are going to focus on the construction of one piece at a time. I will also use links to other projects to demonstrate techniques used for this project because I don't want to type the same detailed info twice. So here we go!!! Lets start out with the....

Wing Construction

The wings were made from wire that I bought at a farming supply store. It is a heavy gauge wire, but I decided to double it up for extra strength. Measure out the wire to your approximate wing length. Make sure that your measurement is for one wing only, or the wire becomes an unmanageable mess.

Use electrical tape where needed to keep the wires together.




Step 1:

The wings were made from wire that I bought at a farming supply store. It is a heavy gauge wire, but I decided to double it up for extra strength. Measure out the wire to your approximate wing length. Make sure that your measurement is for one wing only, or the wire becomes an unmanageable mess.

Use electrical tape where needed to keep the wires together.







Step 2:

Cut smaller wires (but still doubled up as before) and twist them to the main wing frame. These wires will become the frame for the wing segments. I used three segments, but you can use more if you want.

I'm not sure how many bats really have, nor do I care. Three segments worked out fine for me.

The photo below shows a detailed shot of how the wires are twisted together. Notice that areas that had sharp points and areas that were separating were taped shut using electrical tape.

Also note that I left a loop at the top of the wing. This loop will be a critical area later, so make sure to have this loop.









Step 3:

Use wire to form VLAD's claws and then cover it with aluminum foil to give it dimension. I curled the fingers inward a bit. Once you have them shaped correctly, cover the entire claw with a fairly thick layer of hot glue as shown below.










Step 4:

Take out the black plastic table cloth and lay it on the floor (purchased at one of those "everything is a dollar" stores). Lay the wire frame of the wing on the tablecloth and glue them together. It will be tempting to cut the wings into their final shape, but you MUST wait. I repeat: DO NOT CUT OUT THE WINGS YET! Because the plastic will shrink during this step, if you cut the wings, they will not fit your wire frame!

Be cautious not to melt the plastic with the tip of the glue gun. The secret is to either use a low temp glue gun. I only had a high temp glue gun, so while it is possible to use one, it was frustrating at times.

Run thick "beads" of glue down the wire frame so that they have the appearance of bones.

The next step is the most arduous and time consuming step in the wing construction! Don't rush through this or you can accidentally burn the material and have to start over from scratch. Run small beads of hot glue across the plastic wings. Its better to keep the glue gun several inches above the plastic and let the glue slowly drip onto the plastic to avoid burning through it. These beads will make the plastic shrink from the heat and build a nice bat like texture. Continue to do this until the entire wing is coated with the glue texture. Once it has cooled off, trim the wing into its final shape with a pair of kitchen scissors.

A detailed photo of the wing texture formed by the glue is shown below.









Step 5:

Using small gauge wire, attach the claw from step 3 onto the lop at the top of the wing. Cover the wire with hot glue until the claw blends seamlessly with the rest of the wing.

You are now almost finished with the first wing.

IMPORTANT: Repeat these procedure again for the other wing. Remember that it should be a mirror image of the first. You flying demon will look weird with two right wings.



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