Hello Chris
The cannon looks great ... a real 'Boys-Toy' .
I bet it makes a great noise too.
Don't be despondent if you drew a blank with your booth building.
I salute you for even having a go.
Making any type of transportable booth is a huge task , and its not a job for everyone.
And you are quite right , Actors don't need to build their own scenery ...they act.
There are many good puppeteers and Punch-men out there that do not 'make'.
Here in the UK there is for example David Wilde who buys or commissions all of his puppets and booths.
I'm not sure David could even sew on a button without supervision ...but he does one heck of a good show !
Keep saving and crowd funding until you can buy what you need.
Don't be downhearted ...you gave it a go , which is way more than most folk do.
There are lots of nice pictures and videos starting to come through from this years Mayfaye in Covent Garden.
My new booth appears in quite a few of them.
I am very pleased with it.
But I am also aware that I am lucky to be able to make what I need for myself.
Lord knows how !
At school I was utterly hopeless at woodwork and metalwork and go as far as to say I hated having to do it.
The wood and metal workshops were draughty, forboding places to me with blunt tools that left me feeling frustrated and incompetent .
I enjoyed sewing classes more, the school had a well equipped cozy sewing room with lots of Bernina machines ( still my favourite machine to this day). I enjoyed sewing , but honestly wasn't much good at that either.
So I don't take being self sufficient now for granted.
Everything I am able to do these days has been self-taught out of a desire to have the show I want.
I guess 'Necessity is the Mother of Invention'
But its not compulsory to make your own stuff.
You say you are going to 'throw together a screen' for an upcoming historical event...I am sure you will be able to utilise the pieces you have already made in some way, either by bolting or clamping them together , or using screws to construct it in situ on the day.
What you have made so far won't be wasted work I am certain of it

)
Best Wishes
Richard Coombs