In actual fact I have put all the pieces together to complete the rainbow lion and he was awoken on the 17th of February. Before I show you some of the pictures of the ceremony and the lion in action, here are some photos of the finished product and how it compares to the original lion I was trying to replicate.
Front view of my completed lion
Back view of my lion
My lion with its tail
Front view of original lion (movie still)
More photos to come…
wakeuplion 
The lion looks amazing!!!! Did you use the pompoms you made for the top??
Thanks Vinh! I’m glad others are enjoying the piece too!
The pom poms I ordered only had enough for the a single ring around the mirror and the two larger pom poms for the nose.
So I had to use some of the pom poms I made. Not ideal, but I think it works well. The colours are similar enough and for the larger ones, I could actually get the brush in to make the fibres quite fine. I’ve still got a whole bunch of pom poms lying around. Maybe they can go towards my next project
Congrats on a job well done! You and Zoe really have something you can be proud of–to see it finished and then to see it being used in an actual performance is a great feeling!
Thanks Chris! Wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help from you and the other guys on the lion dancing forum!
Oh and of course Zoe’s steady painting hand!
It was quite exciting to show it off to everyone and dance it around! I think everyone who saw it was quite impressed at how different it looked compared to the current trend of lions that are being used.
It’s a bit heavy though (means it should last for many years to come =D). Sits at 5.5kg and after a few shakes everyone was running to swap into the other lions for some respite!
Happy to help. 5.5kg sounds about right for an old school lion, some of them were even heavier! Kids these days don’t know how good they’ve got it… 🙂
The lion looks so nice! Congratulations =) I’ve been checking your blog regularly and I can’t believe you went from a metal base broomstick handle to this! Amazing!
Thanks Ryan! “I shall call it Derelique” (get it? ….quote from Zoolander movie)
Not too bad yourself! I’ve been seeing your posts on your blog. Ace is looking good. More pictures!
Note to self, when choosing a broomstick handle, choose one that’s not waxed!! You can’t get a good grip on it once you start sweating!
I don’t get the reference lol (never watched Zoolander) Good job again! Check out my blog 😉 You’re featured! lol
Thanks for the plug! Appreciate it.
Zoolander’s about a unintelligent but good intentioned model- Zoolander. He comes up with his new range of clothes called Derelique (I think thats how its spelled) which is clothes inspired by rubbish/ stuff that hobos wear.
metal base and broomstick handle*