Balloon Review 081 : Jumbo's by David Brenion

Available from http://www.balloon-animals.com/catalog priced $50

Let me start by saying this is going to be a review that will take many months to complete. I do hope that very quickly you will be able to get a feel of what this collection has to offer and can make an informed decision on whether to purchase it or not.

This is a new venture for David and brings together the two distinct disciplines of Decor and Twisting, which actually seems to be the current trend. The Jumbos collection are clearly designed as commissioned delivery pieces. I feel these will appeal to both twisters and decorators who wish to further develop their skills. For me, I have decided to offer these, and some other decor delivery pieces as another product line on my website. Whether they sell or not who knows, but as long as I have fun making them who really cares! (OK so my business acumen may be lacking)

Let's start by discussing the product itself. Other than a limited edition run of DVDs, these instructions are available for download only via the website link above. The process itself is very simple and it was easy to download the videos to my PC hard drive. You can either watch them on your PC or burn them to DVD for viewing the traditional way. Unlike some on-line video download sites, you can download these multiple times by logging onto your account. Therefore, if your hard drive crashes and you lose all your data, you can simply download them again which is handy.

The video quality is superb. The video is crisp and bright and the audio is excellent. Unlike David's previous DVDs, he has dubbed audio on top of his own video so you don't actually see him talking on the video. I really like this. I actually think the quality of the audio description is better, more precise and with perfect timing. It is also quite entertaining allowing David to add some comedy moments along the way. It appealed to my sense of humour anyway.

So as regards the production quality of the product, it is first rate.

OK onto materials. If you are primarily a twister like me who has plenty of 160s 260s 5"/6" rounds and hearts, 646Qs, 350Qs and a splattering of 11" rounds you really are going to need to invest heavily in an initial stock of balloons. They do not come cheap. I spent over £100 just to make the first two designs but of course, as I move onto the later models I already will have most of the balloons I need. You can interchange colours but being the professional reviewer I am, I do need to follow the original colour scheme :-)

You will also need some 3ft (36") balloons but these come supplied in bags of 2 so are more affordable. You will also need some sort of balloon pump. I have a cool aire which has been sitting in the cupboard unused for 3 years so that was lucky. I did inflate a 16" round using the usual qualatex pump. It does work but incredibly tiring and not recommended.

The first point to mention about David's approach is he has clearly been sensitive to people new to decorating. He doesn't assume we all have precision air sizers (as I have seen in other instructions), fancy balloon sizing templates or expensive balloons bases and poles. I really appreciated this and I will explain more later.

There is a handy PDF on the website that includes all the materials you need to make each design. Maybe it is best to pick just one or two of your favorites and just order these balloons first.

OK so now I have my electric and have some balloons - let's make a start....

All these designs sit upon a balloon base plate and 2ft pole. Now if you have £50 sitting around you can buy these from your favourite balloon supplier.

However, David shows you how to make one of your very own using inexpensive materials. I am not going into specifics as you will need to purchase the download to learn the technique. I went on an adventure the other afternoon to collect together everything I needed. I managed to find everything very easily with the exception of one item. For those who have the instructions, I am referring to the part of you add to join the 0.5" tube to the base. I cannot find this anywhere. I have an alternative which isn't as strong. When I find one I will have a go at making David's original base just to experiment. It looks really good. I think you are looking at around £4 per completed base.

So what did I do... good old IKEA uplighters! I purchased a load more for £5.25 each, the base is very heavy and I used the same preparation technique Roger shared at his lecture earlier in the year (if Roger allows me to I will post some instructions on how to do this but it is technique). For my first Jumbo I used the uplighter base and two of the metal rods. This makes the pole two inches longer than in David's instructions but it worked fine.

So I have a suitable base, some balloons - now finally onto my first design... The Penguin! Phew... glad I didn't give up!

PENGUIN

For these reviews I will not be listing materials as you can refer to David's materials PDF.

Starting with the balloon column base. If you have never made a column before, David explains this very simple process. As the balloons are so large it doesn't take long to build the column. The balloons used are 16" and need to be sized to 13". David suggests a way of sizing them using the materials you already have. I did exactly the same with my IKEA stands and they worked fantastically well without putting a spacer between them due to the weight of the bases. All will be clear when you watch the video but all you need to know is sizing will not be a problem for you.

Careful bubble sizing is essential to give a professional finish. I was really pleased how this all came together and the final look.

The 3ft bubble was a completely different experience for me. I have never used these large balloons before. To tie the 3ft balloon to the column and to be able to tie the head on the top you need to add an additional attachment point. For this you need a large bead. The challenge here is to find the exact centre of the 3ft balloon. What a complete nightmare. It took me FOUR attempts to get this right. Luckily I didn't pop the balloon in the process. If you get this part wrong then the penguin's body will not sit upright. I also found it incredibly difficult to tie the knot on the nozzle. I had to get my wife to help me! How you tie these on your own is beyond me right now. I almost broke my fingers. I remember feeling this way with twisting sidewall bubbles in a 646Q but it will probably improve in time.

The rest of the design is simplicity itself. I did make the black neck balloon a few times just to get the perfect size and to minimise the gap at the side of the head. The beak and lower lip is simple yet effective. I feel in time creating these designs will not take very long.

My penguin is 6ft high, I now can't get it through the door and have no-where to put it... but I love it. I am really looking forward to making the next one.... a really good start...

[attachment=0:2q9fhzzu][/attachment]penguin-small.jpg[/attachment:2q9fhzzu]

Hi all,

this is my version of David´s Jumbos but my is a small one for table centerpieces or just to give it to a person you like

Quote from: "Ballonim"Hi all,

this is my version of David´s Jumbos but my is a small one for table centerpieces or just to give it to a person you like

HOW CUTE IS THAT?!?!?!?!?!  I love it!  What a great idea!

My son needed  a karate ka for his karate club presentation

Tying a three footer can be a workout at first, but if you can find room to hold them both, I like to tie the three footer directly to the 16" round for the head.  I find it to be much easier than tying each balloon individually then tying them both together.

Hi Rob

That's a top tip but whatever way you do this it will take strong fingers!