The plasma cut dinosaur is definitely a bit top heavy. We needed him to be somewhat movable and thus a sturdy (and heavy) base was required. We decided he would be perched on a well weathered log made from concrete. Matt had been bringing in some pretty cool samples of gnarly wood which would serve as the perfect inspiration.
We are building a pirate train for Scallywag Bay. We have partnered with one of the best train builders in the world for the project. Hillcrest Shops, from California is building the chassis of the engine and rail cars. It all started with a concept drawing.
Before I could do the final assembly of the ‘SIGN’ letters and the rounded top of the planet I needed to do the painting and gilding. It would be impossible to do once they are in place. I started with two coats of plain copper metallic over the entire letters and background. I allowed things to dry in-between coats. Then I did a blend coat of black cherry on the bottom, through copper and into a metallic orange on the upper portions.
It’s not often we do simple cutouts with a fair amount of assembly in our shop but because this is a detailed display piece that will live out it’s life indoors I tackled things a little different this time. The ‘sign’ portion of the sign will be fastened to the top of the lid, and then turned upside down and slipped inside for transport. The lid has a raised oval which will house the transformer for the LED lights. The plasma cut ‘steel ODYSSEY’ letters were positioned and welded to this raised oval. The letters are simple cutouts with a dropped center
With all the pieces perfectly cut on the MultiCam CNC plasma it was a snap to fit them together, tack everything in place to align all the pieces and then weld things up solid. Once everything was welded it was time for some serious grinding and polishing. It is now a serious and heavy duty box. Once the grinding was done and the lid was fit I sprayed on the reacting acid and watched the rust begin to form instantly.
Today I fired up EnRoute to build the files for the sides of the box. Building files for the Plasma cutter is so much simpler than the CNC router. I only have to think in two dimensions.
Some projects, particularly those we do for ourselves can seem to take forever. We’ve been slowly but steadily working on finishing all of the details on the new house, which we moved into more than two years ago. Inside we have things pretty much wrapped up but on the outside there was a little more to do. The last area that needed it’s trim was the giant front window
Painting the crab submersible was fun from beginning to end. I began with two coats base coats of gold. Then I did a blend coat with the gold on the bottom and a blend to a deep red on the top. The model instantly came to life.
Dates set for Spring 2016 Sculpture Magic Workshops My email box has been full of late with requests for the dates of the next workshop. So full in fact we’ve decided to host TWO Sculpting Magic Workshops this coming spring. After looking over our schedules we have set the dates. The first Sculpting Magic Workshop will be April 15, 16, and 17, 2016.