The Artists Who Happen to Make Signs – The Angry Bull

I’m sure you’re familiar with the phrase “taking the bull by the horns.” Well Xpressive Graphix takes the phrase to a whole new level. Creating a sign for the Angry Bull Saloon is a prime example of what the artists at Xpressive Graphix are capable of while following their motto: Expect the unexpected.

First being approached with the idea of rebranding one of Zanesville’s favored local saloons, Tony Rose, David Mattingly and the crew at Xpressive Graphix used their expertise to take this project above and beyond. Using Precision Board Plus, these artists were able to craft a sign that would stop any passer-by in their tracks.

The design created by Xpressive Graphix.

The design created by Xpressive Graphix.

Using PBLT-18, this sign is layered perfectly. Actual 19th century barn wood was mounted on a steel frame as a backing for one of the craziest bulls you’ll find on a sign. While the lettering and outline were routed on a CNC, the bull itself was HAND CARVED by Tony Rose. The hand carved bull was mounted using 100% silicone while screws where placed to hold the bull until the silicone set. The surly demeanor was captured perfectly and the Angry Bull Saloon is now the proud owner of an amazing sign using Precision Board Plus!

19th century barn wood and the steel frame.

19th century barn wood and the steel frame.

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The Angry Bull Saloon by Xpressive Graphix, Zanesville, OH.

Tony and the team are doing an amazing job showing what Precision Board can become. Visit them at their website or catch Tony on his twitter to see what they can do for you.

Digging up some old bones

Yesterday, Russel Boudria, the head trainer from MultiCam in Texas arrived to set up our shiny new CNC plasma cutter and train us how to use it. He was eager to get started even though he had spent most of the day in transit. That’s dedication! We worked a couple of hours levelling the table, sorting out wires, hoses and cables, and testing things out. We got to the point where we could move the gantry and test fire the machine. Tomorrow we’ll begin some serious cutting. As I thought about what the first cut pieces might be I knew we would want to set a fairly high bar as the starting point. From here we will get even more creative. I knew just the test piece. Phoebe mentioned that she needs a mailbox for their new house. Ordinary just wouldn”t do. She also happens to love dinosaurs. So I thought a life-size velociraptor skeleton holding a custom built mailbox might be about right. Phoebe agreed. I designed the cutting file after Russel left. This is going to be FUN!

Published with permission from precisionboard.blogspot.com. Source.

6 World Speed Records to be Broken!

Get over to sunny Moriarty, New Mexico for the “Thunder Over Moriarty!” This world record-breaking event will feature Nemesis Air Racing presenting the NemesisNXT (Bottom picture) on September 21st through October 3rd.

Located just 35 miles east of Albuquerque, NM, Jon and Patricia Sharp, with the Nemesis Air Racing team, will assault 3 different speed distances in two different weight categories; 3km, 15km, and 100km in length. Flown just 200 feet above the ground, the 3km will be 4 passes with the plane in your face, but don’t blink, cause the NemesisNXT will be gone if you do!

That’s a total of 6 records! With the NemesisNXT clocked at the Reno Air Races at speeds well into 400 MPH, this should be a breeze. Check out this great video to learn more about the NemesisNXT:

Coastal Enterprises manufactured the Precision Board used for layup tooling in the original Nemesis and the NemesisNXT, and since our involvement began, we have been huge fans of both Jon and Patricia.

To the whole NemesisNXT Racing Team: Good luck and break those records!

The Nemesis Litho 1998

The Nemesis Litho 1998

Nemesis NXT 2005

Nemesis NXT 2005

“He who kills with one leap…”

A well-known company in the theme park and display business, Monster City Studios (MCS) of Fresno, California, has been in business for over 15 years and produces high quality advertisement displays. Using Precision Board Plus, MCS has begun a new project that took Coastal Enterprises by surprise.

A geometric Jaguar is quite the odd concept, yet MCS has been able to give a realistic touch to this piece. Routed out of PBLT-30 for durability, this Jaguar head weighs almost 100 pounds! From the tip of the nose to the back of the head measures 19 inches, the base of the head to the top is 21 inches, and the width is 16 inches.  Following up with great hand-detailing, it’s no wonder it will be one of the main displays for a new mall being built in Arizona. With a coat of resin and paint, the Precision Board will be brought to life!

Fresh off the Frog 3D CNC

Fresh off the Frog 3D CNC

Cleaned up with hand detailing

Cleaned up with hand detailing

The finished design waiting to be coated and painted.

The finished design waiting to be coated and painted.

Pictures don’t due justice for the true enormity of this piece. From head to tail, the replica is 8 feet long and the rock base it is sitting on is 16 feet long. The word ‘impressive’ comes to mind, but so does ‘intimidating’ as the power of this animal is captured really well. Here are a few more pictures and a video of the product in process.

Click here to watch the jaguar’s legs being machined

The Jaguar's paws

The Jaguar’s paws

The legs and feet being attached

The legs and feet being attached

The structural support for mounting the Jaguar

The structural support for mounting the Jaguar

The rock that the Jaguar will be mounted on

The rock that the Jaguar will be mounted on

The piece is to be placed in a new mall being built  in Arizona and rightfully so for one of the jaguar’s natural habitats.

A sketch of the finished product.

Monster City Studios has been a fan of Precision Board Plus for over 3 years now and will continue to represent the product to it’s fullest.

 

 

Complex robot arm – part two

Now it is time to move on to the brush and pedestal of the robot arm. We use the create mesh/revolve tool for this operation. Open the dialogue box and simply follow the steps to create the mesh. I entered 100 for the values in the stacks and slices – this creates the resolution (number of facets) of the mesh.
As always it is important to do a render (in multiple views) to make sure that what happened was what you wanted.

The brush was created in the same manner.

Again I checked the render.

I then rotated the brush strictly by eye.

I then positioned the finished assembled over the base plate (not yet a relief) to make sure the brush and robot arm fit properly so the brush was painting the letters. I was happy with the result.

The next step was to make the meshes into reliefs as the router can’t deal with meshes. To do this I made a flat (zero height) relief.

I then selected this new flat relief and the meshes to light up the combine meshes button. Make sure you select the merge highest function. One click and it was done. In the render view the mech(red) and modified relief appear as mottled. The mesh (red in the render but green when selected without render) can now be eliminated.

The robot arm should also be merged (highest) with this new relief.

Published with permission from precisionboard.blogspot.com. Source.