We need about five tentacles and a way to make them wiggle about.  I've done the odd web search but not really found out anything useful, so if anybody out there can suggest stuff I would (again) be very grateful.

IRL: Edwin Hofstra

- mostly crewing at the moment

The Whispering God is your friend... trust the Whispering God...

Ruins of Empire

1st - 3rd Feb, 2008, Gladstone scout centre, Chester

I've just found a photo of the chap in question on their website.  That sort of thing would be just right for what we're doing, ours would need to be longer though.

Ours would probably be operated from the outside by wires like a big marionette, if that's any help.

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Skullduggery - Mortimer, Master At Arms of House Fortuna

Pass me another Elf, Sergeant. This one's split!!

I Am More Than A Fish

(It might be worth looking at some old Zoids toys by Tomy, especially the bigger models Giant Zrk, and Mighty Krark, IIRC, that had articulated, moving long necks and tails. They`re still available on ebay and such, although prices seem to have soared a little for the unopened boxes.)

I was thinking at the time about building them from segments, but now I think you`d probably best use two ribbed tubes/harmonica tubes/whatever they`re called, a narrow and a wider one. Attach eyelets to the narrow one - in whatever sturdy way you can think of - thread wires through them, and then pull the wider one over it to protect the wires from the mantle. Attach both tubes to the tip and sculpt the mantle over it. That`s basically the idea.
I was planning to use them at the time in the outdoors, hidden beneath fallen leaves, until some unsuspecting adventurer ventured too near, and then 'grab' them with the tentacle. For this, they`d only need to curl upwards left and right. So my basic wire scheme was one wire top left, and one wire top right, with rings or handles at the ends held in my hands, and a bottom wire attached to my belt in case I needed to make a quick disengage. Pulling either top wire by itself would cause it to curl up from the ground and grab someone directly left or right of it. (And if it didn`t, it would probably fall over.) Pulling both top wires would cause it to curl straight up - intimidating enough by itself - after which pulling the bottom wire and releasing either or both top wires would make it lash out.
These days I`m more thinking along the lines of four wires: two top, two bottom, as I figure I can attach the bottom wires to a pair of pedals, and threading the top wires all the way to the tip, but the bottom wires only halfway. That way, I should be able to make S-curls, with the nearest half of the tentacle bending this way, and the far end bending the other way. That would be much more like 'wriggling'.
It might even be possible to 'program' certain nifty moves by not threading the wires in a straight line, but around the tube depending on which way you want that part of the tube to bend. I`m unsure how to conquer gravity without using segments with complicated four way joints that don`t allow rotation, though. It might also be possible to have elastic strings, in addition to the wires, so the tentacle will return to a curved 'rest' position when none of its wires are being pulled.

The only other solution I can think of is to make a tentacle, attach some strings and then play it like a marionet, using some kind of boom or even fishing rods.


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IRL: Edwin Hofstra

- mostly crewing at the moment

The Whispering God is your friend... trust the Whispering God...

Ruins of Empire

1st - 3rd Feb, 2008, Gladstone scout centre, Chester

No they wouldn't.

Once again guys, some great ideas to think about here.  Thanks very much!