I'm planning a full-size PM triceratops. Since it's so big, I'm making it in three parts: head, body, tail. I'm planning a male-female system of sttachment, since I need a STURDY, simple, lightweight method of assembly and dissasembly.
Forgive the analogy, really: On the head and tail there will be a long PVC pole protruding from the middle of the base of each piece, along the general lines of where the spine would be. I'll probably use stiff PVC. In the body will be two female tunnels leading into the body cavity. The skull and tail will be lifted and the poles inserted into the tunnels, male into female.
I'm struggling with some of the details, but I actually made an appointmebt with a sutructural engineer to help me work out issues of balance, assembly, and strength. He charges 120/hr, but I think neeed aprofessional to help me troubleshoot. I made a full-size horse once, and problems with balance and weight made it not stay upright.
I've scored a lot of free support stuff. Newspapers are everywhere. Fabric stores trash out the bolt boards. I'll use fabric tape to attach some of the pieces and maybey leather ties. There are a ton of supplies I could use to attach the poles to the fram that support the PM, but really, my experience making drums has taught me that leather made wet and dried is a fucking STRONG material. Axes and other things hundreds of years old have lasted with leather lashing, so I'll probably use metal bolts and things, and rawhide leather lashing to support the joints. Its really amazing how rawhide, once wet, tied, and allowed to dry gets - it's as strong as metal.
Any suggestion for making large-scale stuff is welcome. I'm hoping I can find a way to make the PM strong enough to not crack or break under its own weight, but I think really good framework will do the trick. Luckily, I live in Phoenix, AZ, so my layers will dry incredibly fast.