Jazz Band
The restoration of the Jazz Band at DreamFactory has been a major project. this realistic human jazz band of 8 characters was in a extremely poor state before we refurbished them to their former glory.
These characters were built in France and performed in a casino for some time.
Pre-Restoration
When this show was sent to our main engineer the characters were literally falling apart, they had a previous botched repair attempt which left them unfortunate state.
Mechanical Restoration
Restoring the mechanics was of high priority for us, the previous restoration attempt had left multiple pieces missing and so we had to produce replacement parts ourself, this was bound to be one of our hardest and most ambitious projects to date.
Fiberglass Fabrication
These animatronic figures use fiberglass shells to form the body shape, we replicated many which were missing and repaired and reinforced the various cracked and broken pieces, this allows the figures mechanics to be protected while also allowing the clothing and other cosmetics to sit on the character in a natural fashion.
Cosmetics
Whilst the character masks still relatively held their shape, we made molds of all rubber pieces just in time as the latex was starting to decay. 4 character molds were made for this band of 8, the original suits the characters wore were expertly cleaned and repaired before being re-fitted onto the characters.
We also ensured to replace and fix the broken instruments on the show, the trombone, trumpets where replaced as the original was too far gone for restoration, The Bass and saxophone have gone though major repairs such as woodwork and repainting as they where completely falling apart.
Shipping
Due to this show being restored in one of our workshops away from the original premises we had to transport it back.
We expertly packaged up these characters ensuring that no damage could happen at all during transportation whilst arranging for a transport truck to pick them up and travel them across multiple countries.
Installation
The Jazz Band made it down successfully to DreamFactory in Switzerland and was installed by our main engineer in early April 2024, they are now there to perform for anyone who visits the museum with professionally programmed showtapes of songs which fit their theme and aesthetic. The museum will be adding a backdrop, scenery and flooring after installation.
