Balloon Review 027 - 321 Go.. by Alberto Falcone

At the Care & Share day today, I was asked by Danny to do a review for the new DVD by Alberto Falcone. Alberto has just released three DVDs with two of them aimed at decorators. I thought I would give this one a go as it looks like it focuses on 321Qs. I haven't seen any of Alberto's work before and haven't a clue what this DVD contains so we can explore it together over the next few days.

This DVD is available from http://www.balloonartwholesale.co.uk and costs £29.99. The DVD contains 13 different designs.

Here we go........

FRIENDLY FISH

Firstly, the quality of the DVD itself is excellent. The menu design offers easy navigation and Alberto's english is very good and he is easy to understand. Rather than provide measurements for the bubbles using finger lengths or actual measurements, Alberto tells you how many pumps of air using the standard purple qualatex pumps. The only downside of this will be if you are using a different sized pump but it is easy to guess the sizes from the video itself.

The final fish is a decent size but I can't help feeling this design is an incredibly inefficient use of balloons. To make this fish I used 10 x 321Q, 4 x 5" rounds and 3 x hearts, an astonishing amount of specialised balloons for the end result. Each loop of the body is a separate 321Q which makes for a lot of tying knots. I do feel that perhaps this model is used to bridge the gap between decorators and twisters (if there is such a thing) as each bubble is sized by 'pumps' of air and balloons tied into duplets. I could have created all the orange body with a 350Q which would have saved me a small fortune in balloons.

In my mind perhaps the same balloon could have been made with 3 x 350Qs instead of 10 x 321Qs.

The end result is very pleasing but care must be taken to hide the many knots and balloon ends within the model. It is also very frustrating when adding the front two heart fins as up to this point the model was very sturdy. With a slight knock of the hearts the whole design twisted around and it was a right pain to sort out afterwards.

Forgive me for being overly critical, but whilst the model is nice, I just cannot understand the value of using such a balloon consuming design just to say it is a 321Q design.

This fish is perfect as part of a larger display piece but if I did make it again I would use a different method.

Sorry!

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Thanks Nippy, its this kind of valuable info that can help decide whether a DVD is worth spending on or not!

Looking forward to some more models!

cheers
Danny

WONDERING TURTLE

There is something particularly adorable about this turtle for which the photo does no justice. Using the same fish body as the shell this design uses around 15 321Qs. The same comments apply to the shell in that two 350s would suffice but I can certainly see the advantage of using individual 321Qs for the legs and the tail. This turtle stands freely and alongside the fish I made yesterday they make a great combination. I can see myself making this one again as a part of a larger decoration piece.

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BABY DRAGON

I really like this baby dragon. It stands on it's own and is a decent size. Some of this body is made using a 350Q so it won't be too hard to replace the 321Q with another 350Q. The only problem I found with this model was positioning the legs properly due to the double pinch twists between the front and back legs. I think a single pinch twist would have been better. Something to try for next time as I really like this one.

p.s. the red 160s are supposed to be fire - may be better to leave those out!

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BUSY BEE

This bee uses the standard 321Q body. I really like this design and it does look great. My comments still stand about the waste of 321Qs. The only appropriate use of 321Q here is with the sting in the tail. I can see myself using this one again in the future. It's quick to make.

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MOUSE

I really can't see how this is a mouse. Perhaps something from the movie Ice Age, but not a mouse. In my mind a weak one of the collection.

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Looks a great Armadillo though  

I thought armadillo too

Or maybe a hedgehog with a long nose.

Give him a long skinny red tongue and you've also got an anteater

SEAHORSE

This is a wonderful balloon, probably one of my favourites. I learned something new today about how to create the perfect curly balloon without trying to mouth inflate the balloon whilst having it wrapped around my fingers. Works really well - wish I had discovered this a while ago. The tail maintains the shape without any problems.

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PENGUIN

There is something incredibly odd about this penguin design. To me the face doesn't look right and has something missing. The grey part of the face is the end of the dipped white 321Q folded over but there is a massive gap where the orange beak joins. For this reason the model isn't any use to me unless I repair the face.

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EAGLE

This is a nice eagle design that is fast to make and an ideal addition to any centrepiece or display. The orange beak is achieved by cutting off the end of a 260Q orange and sliding over the tail of the 321Q. I had to apply a little bit of glue to stop it falling off again.

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CHAMELEON

Based on a similar body shape to the mouse, this chameleon stands upon its own feet and looks quite nice. Easy to make and the same comments apply about the overuse of the 321Qs.

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