Introduction: That's No Moon. It's a Balloon!
As members of the 501st Legion of Imperial Stormtroopers, we are called upon to quell disturbances by Rebel insurgencies all over the Galaxy.
One such disturbance has continued as denizens of the town of Bartlett, Illinois have annually celebrated their "INDEPENDENCE" Day with a Parade. It was decided that a show of power was required to remind these revelers just who is in charge.
So the decision to deploy the most deadly and feared mechanism of Imperial Power, "The Deathstar", was made.
Doing this on a scale to fit under a 15' ceiling on the parade route and transport from its building site to Bartlett, a 150 mile trek caused its own logistical problems itself.
We started with the size.
A 10' diameter sphere was decided upon and using an inflatable was suited to answer the logistical problems.
A gray metal inflatable vinyl advertising balloon was ordered as our starting point.
A snow saucer sled would be used for the parabolic dish laser weapon would give us a 3D visualization instead of painting the dish.
Strips of different shades of gray strips would give us the detail we needed as the balloon would be viewed by the public from only ten feet away in some cases.
A 6.5 hp shop-vac would be used to both inflate and deflate the balloon for transport and storage in its own crate.
One such disturbance has continued as denizens of the town of Bartlett, Illinois have annually celebrated their "INDEPENDENCE" Day with a Parade. It was decided that a show of power was required to remind these revelers just who is in charge.
So the decision to deploy the most deadly and feared mechanism of Imperial Power, "The Deathstar", was made.
Doing this on a scale to fit under a 15' ceiling on the parade route and transport from its building site to Bartlett, a 150 mile trek caused its own logistical problems itself.
We started with the size.
A 10' diameter sphere was decided upon and using an inflatable was suited to answer the logistical problems.
A gray metal inflatable vinyl advertising balloon was ordered as our starting point.
A snow saucer sled would be used for the parabolic dish laser weapon would give us a 3D visualization instead of painting the dish.
Strips of different shades of gray strips would give us the detail we needed as the balloon would be viewed by the public from only ten feet away in some cases.
A 6.5 hp shop-vac would be used to both inflate and deflate the balloon for transport and storage in its own crate.