Well, after 2 years of struggling with the second version of the Reaper I decided to re-redesign the basic structure. The big problem was the raising of the torso. It was just too heavy and cumbersome. My solution was to simply weld the top structure to the bottom and leave it up all year. The base structure could potentially be used for other holiday decorations (either with or without the skull).
Since it will be up all year I decided to re-make the top section and make it look less torso-like. After a bit of research I borrowed design elements from the
Eiffel Tower and
The Space Needle .
After a week-end of welding and painting I got it done. With help from my buddy Eli we got the new base standing in under 30 minutes.
The arms are now being held in place by rectangular piece that gets slid in vertically through the top leg hole things.
After the head and arms (the same ones from Reaper 2.0) were in place, it was just a matter of re-using the same robe as last year.