Whatever the size of the build, it’s important to start by getting the basics right.
“The actual build took five months, with 90 percent of the build taking place in the last two. As there are not many giant puppet regulations, getting suitable paperwork for such an unorthodox project required imagination. In the end, we reclassified the wheel loader as a piece of lifting machinery, and the puppet as a lifting attachment. We could then apply standard lifting tests [on both].”
Powered puppetry
The name ‘Man Engine’ comes from the apparatus that took miners underground, down to the seam and back. These were originally powered by water, and later by steam engines. The modern namesake uses rather different propulsion:
“We essentially had ten months for the whole project. The first few were focused on trying to find a manufacturer of plant machinery who agreed that supporting the puppet was within their machine’s designed parameters. Step forward Volvo.
“The main puppeteer is a 31-tonne Volvo L220H wheel loader. Wheel loaders are used in mines and quarries, so it’s a very suitable machine for this purpose. Ten other puppeteers, dressed as miners, pull on ropes and levers to bring the giant to life. I wanted people to see the miners’ endeavour and effort in all this.
“There are electrical components on board such as winches that operate the shoulders, and the steam effects are made by an on-board smoke machine combined with piped-in compressed air from a compressor.”
If you’ve missed it, never fear: the Man Engine will also be appearing at Hillhead Quarry, Derbyshire, and Elsecar Village and Wentworth Woodhouse, both in South Yorkshire – and there’s a European tour planned for 2019, and a world tour coming up in 2020. Visit hsmag.cc/LEEvAD for details.
