We Made A Figment Rocking Horse! Er... Rocking Dragon?

After John knocked out that Death Star shelf last month in just 2 days, he decided to take on another quick little woodworking project.

Over two grueling weeks later, and our "quick," not-so-little project is finally - FINALLY - done. It's more of a prototype, really, since of course we realized all sorts of ways to improve and speed up the process *after* the fact, but it's done and cute and delightfully rainbow-licious and did I mention it's finally done?

So without further ado, here 'tis:

Our Figment Rocker!

(EEEEEE!)

We've wanted to make another rocker since the AT-AT, but figuring out something fun and unique while still being relatively simple was tricky. In the end John came up with the idea (If you're new here, John cosplays an amazing Dreamfinder, and we sculpted our own Figment), which I then sketched out:

From there we enlarged it with a projector so I could trace a full-size version:

 

Next we figured out the layers and thickness so I could make all the paper templates.

 

 

Then I traced the templates onto 3/4" MDF:

 

... and sent John out to the garage to start cutting.

John works fast, so in almost no time he had the basic shapes down:

You can see we started with plywood rails in a completely different position - but they were much too narrow, so the whole thing was a tipping danger. (Thinking in 3D is HARD, y'all.)

Next John routed all the edges to give them that soft rounded look:

He also went on to add sturdier, wider MDF rails.

At this point we were ready for test riders, so we could finalize the foot and seat placement. Enter our friends' trio of children, who conveniently come in sizes Small, Tiny, and Extra Adorable. (AKA, ages 7, 5, and 3.) 

It was pretty exciting to see how thrilled the kids were, eagerly queuing up and arguing over who got to ride next for the 3rd and 4th times. While we adults stood around debating measurements and foot peg placements, little Caleb here just kept happily rocking away...

SO CUTE. 

(The kids are all fascinated by John, of course.)

As you can see the tail spike in the back was a definite poking hazard [snerk], so the final addition was a seat back along with the seat and foot pegs:

At this point we figured we were pretty much done, because back then we were young and naive and thought painting the rocker would be a breeze. 

IT WAS NOT. 

Suffice to say that paint job would go on to inspire a lot of "imaginative" cursing on my part, and I rage quit at least... let's see... twice?

If we were to do this again I would paint the pieces BEFORE assembly, since the hardest part was reaching all the nooks and crannies around the wings, horns, legs, etc. I would also use something better than cheap 88 cent craft paints, since every color other than the purple and blue covered about as well as weak tea, and required upwards of 5 coats. [whimper]

There's also the issue of MDF edges swelling and getting insanely rough after the first coat of primer, requiring all the sanding. All of it.

Again, hindsight being what it is, we NOW know that it's essential to prime MDF with BIN shellac - a non-water-based primer - to prevent swelling. Follow that up with a light sanding, and you're good to go. (Ahh, to have known that three weeks ago...)

 After priming, much sanding, and a little more priming.

The first coat of paint was a relief after staring at that ugly gray for so long:

Then I realized how hard the painting was and rage quit for a few days. :D

Skip ahead a few more starts and stops, and John decided to swoop in with a rather ingenious method for painting under the rails:

With his help I dove back in, and after another two hard days, countless coats, and lots and lots of taping, the painting was done.

More process shots:

Painting these accent lines was the scariest part of all. O.o 

I drew them in chalk first, which helped. (See it on the horns?)

 Taping off the pink belly stripes.

I left the eye pupils til the very end:

I have Figment looking back to make him a bit more life-like. (Looking forward felt static and dead-eyed.) If you're ever figuring out pupil-placement, do what I do: cut out a circle of black paper and use a bit of double-stick tape to try out different locations. Suuuuper helpful.

Time for more beauty shots!

We've had torrential downpours here every day for about 6 weeks, so our backyard has this brilliant carpet of green on it. Doesn't make up for the fact that our whole state is a giant sauna, but at least it's a pretty photo backdrop.

Rockers are never really meant to be viewed from the front, of course, but I think ours still looks pretty cool:

Everything is secured with both long wood screws and wood glue - right down to the horns - so it's as sturdy, heavy, and safe as we could make it.

I really love the rainbow rails (Rainbow Tunnel homage, anyone?), even though they added immeasurably to our painting pain. It's just so HAPPY, and gets me right in the childhood feelz.

Of course, all that said, and after all this work: we're not keeping it.

No, as with the AT-AT rocker, this was something we just wanted to see if we could do, and now we're ready to pass it on to a loving, Dizgeeky home.

The original plan was to auction it off for charity - same as the AT-AT - but on a whim we decided to check with the charity in question, and get this: they want the rocker itself! So I'm beyond thrilled to report our Figment rocker is going to live at Give Kids The World, the charity resort for kids with life-threatening illnesses and their families. This place is incredible - almost a theme park in itself - and they do the kind of work that renews your faith in humanity. (Go see photos here!)

Whatever GKTW ends up doing with our little Figment - whether they choose to display it, add it to a playroom somewhere, or even auction it off themselves - I'm just happy to see our efforts going toward a place we believe in. :)

 

For those of you who want to make your own Figment rocker: we don't have a template ready (yet?), but this IS an easier build than the AT-AT, so we're open to creating one. Let me know in the comments if you'd be interested, since it's a lot of work to put together the patterns and write out all the instructions, and I don't know if that many people are Figment fans.

Then again, if we ever make another one, I think I'll paint it differently so it's less Vintage Epcot-specific. (We could also tweak the horns.) After all, there are lots of other fun dragon themes, from Harry Potter to The Hobbit to classic medieval times! With all that geeky potential, I feel like a more generic color-scheme might appeal to more folks.

So what do you think? Worth it?


*****

UPDATE: Good news! We *did* make another one in a different colorway, and you can purchase the plans in our Etsy shop here. Thanks, gang!