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There are a few basic designs, which are always good, with different decorative touches, but you may prefer to try for novelty. You have two elements to work with: shape and color. Too often the effect of a float is spoiled because it sticks too closely to the practical outlines of the vehicle on which it was built. The idea is to mask the underpinnings completely by varying the overall shape, by working curves and swirls into the ground plan, and developing an imaginative topside form.
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| Almost every float has a climactic point: the place where the personalities ride, or the massive emblem is mounted, or an animated figure goes through its paces. The upper levels of the float are shaped to lead the eye to this point. Once you have established your design, you fill out the ground outline with plain, light lumber, cut in whatever curves are necessary, and fastened securely with nails or bolts to the trailer bed. When your lateral shape is set, the vertical outlines, transverse, fore, and aft, are cut in plywood or wallboard and securely mounted. | |
| If your float is to carry live figures, platforms for them must be rigidly built and provided with unobtrusive braces for float riders to hold on to. If several riders are to populate the float, they should be placed at two or three different levels, highest at the rear and center.
Any float should be symmetrical, one side the same as the other. The sidewalk-bound onlooker will get no opportunity to move around and look at any mysteries on the other side. In all this construction, you make allowance for wheel clearance, springing, and the turning radius of the float. You should inspect the parade route to note any bumps or depressions for which allowance must be made, so your float doesn’t scrape a forward or rear overhang. If the float is on a truck, see to it that no flammable material is near the hot exhaust line. You may decide to rig a special extension to carry exhaust beyond the overhang. It’s advisable, and it’s wise, too, to wrap the exhaust pipe to increase the safety factor. Having come this far, you have the skeleton of a float or basic framework, undecorated,only partially shaped. Next you round out the shape, to form it into curves and hollows, or to give it that streamlined look. Perhaps part of the exposed portion of your float is solid material, woodcut to shape, or plaster. These surfaces should be painted before any of the other finishing material is added. You might sprinkle or glitter over the freshly painted surfaces to give these an eye-catching sparkle. Suppose you’re planning to build a float, and you already have a trailer. Your next concern is a place for construction, and space of this type is at a premium. If several floats are to be built, the construction site should be a large, open building, preferably without roofsupport posts. And with doors large enough for egress. An airplane hangar is the ideal location for float building. In a small town, the lumberyard building generally offers the roominess needed, as well as a good supply of basic materials. |
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