We spent some time putting together Photoshop mockups of the Tiki Tank:

Missing from these illustrations:

• Lighting – Treads and general outlines
• Shade configuration
• Actual material textures
• Rear view with the draw bridge / rear gate
• Water cannons
• Hula girl hood ornament

Side view, click for full size:

Front view, click for full size:

I outlined the body of the truck in Inkscape (free version of illustrator) to draw out the ideas.

Click for higher resolution.

With the announcement of the theme for 2013, we decided to change the theme and build structure of the truck to become a TIKI TANK; a WW2 era tank made of materials that would be found in a tropical jungle island.

Using tanks diagrams of tanks for inspiration, we drafted up a couple ideas.

Cleaning off the truck after the playa

Success!

More pictures of the Playa Palace 2012 on Flickr

Partway through the build, we got a chance to stress test the new upper platform at Toorcamp, a hacker camp out conference.
http://toorcamp.org/blog

Lessons learned:

• The I-Beam support worked great
• Having DJ’s on the top platform is very difficult to manage
• People like to jump to music… bad for shocks

In an effort to get more people on the vehicle, we decided to reinforce the top structure and allow people to stand on the upper level. This was achieved by bracing a 8 foot wide I-Beam to the truck frame and using that as a load carrying support.
In addition, the major improvements included:

• Significantly lighter and more usable drawbridge
• Larger sound system,
• Funcional PA system controlled by the driver
• Improved operating protocols

Complete 2012 Build log at Flickr

Success!  There are many things that needed changing for 2012 but it turned out great!

Complete Photoset from Burning Man 2012

The whole build process of the vehicle was achieved in under 5 weeks from purchase to arriving on the Playa. Overall it was successful but a very stressful build.

Complete Playa Palace 2011 Build Log on Flickr