It's a Dragon! (Essi)

Dragonbane Diary
Wednesday, July 5th, 2006
Turku, Finland

I've been working in the Dragon workshop in Turku for about a week now. I'm part of the three person team building the dragon's head at the moment. It's building up quite nicely, today we tested the glue-like material that will be used for skin by applying it on the inside of the lower jaw. It looked very convincing, and I think it even has a reptilish feel to it. I'm eagerly waiting for the scales from the Dragon chassis team in Loimaa, so that we can put them on the outside. Tomorrow we will do the lips and some surface and hopefully get to play dentist by putting the teeth in place soon. Anybody fancy a genuine dragon tooth made of iron?

On the first day I spent in the workshop it rained, which was a bliss if you compare it to the long days of sun in the oven-like workshop we've had since. It's not always easy in +30 degrees Celsius in the sun in an overall and thick gloves up to your elbows so you won’t burn yourself with the metal you're working on. And with fiery sparks flying around.

Seeing the head today with the horns and the jaw open ready to eat you gave me an odd feeling: "Yay, we're gonna have a dragon!"

This is something you will tell your grandchildren: "Granny once helped make a dragon." And they won't believe you. Even at the moment it's weird when people ask me what I am doing this summer. "Well, I'm building this Dragon ..."

Essi Santala