Nova Labs is Going to the Parade!
If you don’t have plans for July 4th, you do now! Come see Nova Labs in the Independence Day Parade in downtown Fairfax! We’re bringing the award-winning Kinetic Sculpture with fresh decorations, just for the fourth, and we’ve made another round of awesome cupcakes… but not the kind you eat.
Nova Labs has been perfecting its cupcake game since 2017, when the Go-Cart Cupcakes first appeared in a holiday parade. Before that, they were designed around little red tricycles. Every year the design changes, and every year they get more fabulous!
Thanks to the artistic talents of Rocio Illanes, the Kinetic Sculpture has been transformed into an eagle. And when asked why she chose an eagle, she responded with one word: “Liberty!” But before Rocio got a hold of it, Paul Chase created the canvas. It’s actually neon green and pink PETG plastic underneath, 3D printed on our new Prusa XL. The parts were joined together and handed over to Rocio for the awesome paint job.
In true creative fashion, fixes were happening all the way up to the last minute. The eagle head needed some glue and foam after a crack in the print got a little worse upon installation.The wing mount needed adjustments, and there was talk of some impromptu welding. But really, this is all in a day’s work around Nova Labs.
Projects like these are a great opportunity to showcase what our community is all about. It’s not just the over-engineered, artistic creations that will make an appearance in the parade. It’s about the countless hours spent, inspiring each other and working together to dream big, and figure out how to take those visions to reality.
So come to the Fairfax Independence Day Parade for a little glimpse into the wild world of Nova Labs, in the form of paper mache feathers and unicorn horns!
What I like about this post is that most of the story is about the process rather than the finished thing — the neon green PETG hidden underneath, the crack in the print that needed glue and foam, the wing mount that almost got welded at the last minute. That's the part nobody outside a makerspace ever sees, and it's usually the most interesting part.
There's something genuinely satisfying about that "fix it until it works" loop. I get a much smaller version of the same feeling from browser-based building and physics games — you place something, watch it collapse, and immediately want to try again with one adjustment. Cool Games has a decent selection of those, all playable without…
In Buckshot Roulette, I played a session with the goal of making fewer careless clicks. It took more concentration than I expected, but I noticed a real difference in how I approached each round.
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https://cryptocasinoenligne.com the detail that stuck with me was the eagle being printed in neon green and pink PETG on the Prusa XL before Rocio even touched it with paint, which says a lot about how much invisible prep goes into a parade float most people see for thirty seconds. I've helped with similar community builds where the last-minute glue and foam fixes are basically tradition, and honestly that scramble is where the real bonding happens. The cupcakes evolving from tricycles since 2017 is a fun thread to trace too.
I love the excitement surrounding Nova Labs' participation in the parade! It’s a great way to showcase creativity and community spirit. Have you considered incorporating elements inspired by games like five nights at freddy's? The animatronic theme could add an intriguing twist! What are your thoughts on blending tech and entertainment in this way?