The Kraken Gemini represents my frouth large-scale puppet project. It is essentially an updated version of the original Giant Squid I built back in 2012. These creatures have some major upgrades! First, they're now powered by batteries instead of the gas generator that I relied on for the first squid. I'm using 3-cell lithium polymer rechargable batteries, and we get about an hour and a half on a charge. Next, they've got color-changing LED lights instead of incandescent bulbs, which not only removes considerable weight, but also gives us much more control over what the puppets look like. We had to innovate several ways to protect the LED strip to make sure that it doesn't bend too sharply and damage the embedded circuitry. Lastly, we made major upgrades the the eyes, using a printed vinyl graphic and some custom-made housings that really bring the squid to life.
A to-scale squid drawing, to help me order materials and develop shapes to cut our fabric.
A squid eye!
My battery recharging station (and my vaccuum).
This is the "brain" of the squid, a platform to cary the batteries, light controller, and amplifier for the lights.
