When I last did a Frankenstein we had a big rigged
unit that flew down it had two Jacobs ladders on top and some insulators on the bottom that wires were clipped to and a couple of old lights and all sorts of flashy things. My big part was building the monster table which had lamps in side it and a 14"
lexan top with a metal
grid underneath there were holes in it and a
fog machine ducted in... it was quite the spectacle. and way before LEDS were commercially/easily available like now.
Now, If I was doing it today? yeah you could
build some really cool looking insulators out of cardboard tube and builds the little step thingies out of rings of cardboard. Me? I'd make a wrap of
LED tape in between each step of the
insulator and stick them all on a
relay pack on different circuits and run them in a
chase going "up" the
insulator. Now, for the very top, you want a ball right? Guess what? you can buy over-sized metallic Christmas Ornaments from all sorts of on
line sources right? Most of them are made from Translucent plastic. I used a couple not too long ago to
build some over-sized magic wands. Sand all the metallic off the outside, the plastic was a dull white-ish color which would be pretty good for an
insulator top. Stuff the inside of that puppy with multi-color
LED strips and go to town with the flashy lights. Man, I'd like to
build these. You may want to experiment with a few different balls as the plastic may vary. Jacobs ladders are easy to
build as well but you HAVE to keep in mind
safety factors.
Insulation and fire protection and plastic or glass cylinders around the electrodes are a must. Post pictures, what ever you do.