This was the year to update the mechanics of our life-sized animated nativity figures that we have in our display.
They were among the last of the Hamberger animations that were ever produced. There are a total of seven animations in the large nativity that my son-in-law, Aaron Bolles, and myself built.
While the figures are pristine and the motors themselves are working great, the linkages they had connecting the motors to the various moving parts of the figures were meant for a limited amount of time.
I had repaired one figure four years ago, but this year I needed to repair 3 more, two of which failed last season, and another of which was starting to fail at season’s end.
I removed one figure at a time from the nativity, and worked on it in the garage. Boy are those figures heavy to carry! Hamberger did a very good job in building the actual bodies, and the costumes. With the help of my good friend Brad Felz new linkages were created from thicker steel than what was initially installed in the figures, which should now last indefinitely!
Fortunately, Brad had a good supply of thicker steel and some commercial grade equipment to drill out what was needed to create the new links.
After two weeks of work on my end, the figures were repaired and re-installed in our nativity, now ready for this year’s display!