Rebecca Gosnell & Kris Manning built Ursula Von Feuer and won 1st place in the large group category of the Kinetic Sculpture Parade in Kinetic Derby Day 2019.
"I loved building the pterodactyl float for the first Kinetic Derby Day and was looking for a way to take things up a notch. While on vacation in Asheville NC I spotted an old dirt track car frame deep in the corner of a junk pile and all I could see was a dragon head waiting to be expressed. I bought the frame for $150 and had to send a friend back up with a trailer to get it home. I sanded off the rust and repainted it. Then I stared at it for many days from all angles. Once all of the mechanics were sorted out in my mind for mounting it onto a chopper style adult trike, I handed the frame off to artist Kris Manning who began applying expandable foam and bringing the dragon to life. Eyes, teeth and scales emerged and the dragon we imagined greeted us..
Meanwhile we took the plunge to build a 16ft body using kids bike wheels, fir strips and lots of chicken wire. My dad jumped in to lead the form construction which took over 3 weeks and lots of band aids. But in the end, he handed off a perfect form for Kris and I to work with. Getting expanding foam to attached to an open wire frame proved challenging but it turns out that the 5000 paper food trays in my warehouse make perfect scales when sprayed with form and pushed into the wire frame. The paint job by Kris covered any imperfections and gave the dragon her crazy vibrant look. She rolled down Meeting Street with a supporting cast of Vikings on Kinetic Derby Day and hopefully inspired some other builders for 2020." Rebecca Gosnell
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