A gigantic, smoke-breathing dragon will be one of the star attractions at the St George’s Weekend in Long Sutton.
Model-maker Barry Meade mapped out his design for the dragon on his living room floor, but building had to be switched first to a polytunnel and then to a barn as the beast just grew and grew.
Barry said: “It’s now about 24ft long and 14ft high.
“It’s just built out of scraps, and that’s why I am so pleased with it. We have built it from scratch with cardboard and wallpaper.”
Dental technician Barry, his pal ex-postman Denny Woods and a band of helpers have lost count of the hours they’ve spent on the project over the last six to eight weeks.
Barry said: “I designed it in my living room and drew the plan out and it got too big.
“We moved the whole project up to Long Sutton in Bloom, where we started work in one of the polytunnels, but it outgrew that height wise and we have been using an empty barn owned by a local farmer.”
Long Sutton people will catch their very first glimpse of the dragon when it goes on a float with a St George’s knight in a big parade planned for the St George’s Weekend.
The dragon builders are putting the finishing touches to the beast, including adding some coats of paint.
Barry said: “It will be predominantly blue.
“We have got plans for it to blow smoke out of it’s mouth and nostrils ... they wouldn’t let me do fire.
“As a model goes, this is definitely my biggest.
“We did a castle last year.
“Someone in our group said ‘we could do with a dragon’. I am a bit of a model-maker and I volunteered to do it.”