Plans and Alternatives

Current Plans

The current plan is to create articulated wings in the Gothic style. The wings will be moved by pulling strings attached to the wings. They will open outward in the horizontal direction to exemplify the wingspan. These wings will appear highly detailed because of the large amounts of feathers used. 

Materials

I will be using red textured acrylic for the larger feathers, wood for the frame, feathers from a feather boa, and faux fur fabric. I will be using aluminum posts for fasteners. The corset will be steel-boned and leather for additional structural support since leather is stronger than any other fabric that corsets are typically made from. These materials will add up quickly especially since the corset itself will be nearly 200 dollars.

Fabrication

I plan to mostly use hand tools to make the framing. I plan to gut the large feathers from the acrylic using a laser cutter. I will be using an incredible amount of adhesive to attach feathers from the feather boa. I will probably use contact cement for any structural adhesive applications and hot glue for any fabric or feather attachments. I will start the fabrication process by creating 

Alternative Aesthetics

The structure design and fabrication process for this project would be very different based on another aesthetic. I will explore two different alternative aesthetic designs.

Cyber Punk Aesthetic

This aesthetic consists of sharp edges and angles, lights, and metals. To fabricate it I would need much more time to make the design more crisp and machining metals would take even more time. This design would also incorporate a lot of electronics. Specifically lights and motors. The wings would open in the same direction but would be smaller, motorized, and controlled by buttons on a controller instead. This aesthetic would require much more time and much more expensive materials. That being said, it would be an interesting project for the future. I have sketched out this design and any bright blue parts would glow from LED lights.

Fairy Aesthetic

This aesthetic is what I would consider to be the opposite of the chosen aesthetic. The wings would be modeled after insect wings rather than bird or angel wings. The material would be light or sheer fabrics and plastics stretched over a wire frame. The wire framework would allow the wings to be positioned in any way. These wings would open and close like butterfly wings but would still be controlled using a string. In all honesty, this aesthetic would be easier to fabricate as the comments and details are fewer. It would however be far more time-consuming to make the system that would change the action of pulling a string into the wings opening and closing. This design would also be lightweight which means that a less expensive corset could be used without compromising the structural integrity of the wings or corset.