Marvelous Masterpiece: Custom Precision Board Fish Tank

When we first saw the custom Precision Board fish tank KDF Reprographics had made, we were awestruck. “That should be on T.V.”, and “I’ve never seen anything like it” were comments heard more than once.

A little background on this amazing project; you may notice that it says: “Institute For The Study of Mechanical Marine Life.” This is because the whole project is the result of a friendly competition started among some renowned sign makers – a project that was born at Indiana Rob’s Sign Camp earlier this year.

According to Stephen Hoey, President, and Brian Hamilton, Business Development Manager: “The story unfolds like this… We have a little fish that is scared to travel  – He’s built himself a mechanical fish out of driftwood to tool around the ocean so he can stay safe. The only way you can find this little guy is by using the specially designed periscope that was designed for … you guessed it “The Institute for the Study of Mechanical Marine Life.””

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Hoey says, “We decided to go all-out for this competition and showcase all of the resources we could – graphics, metals, sculpture, Precision Board – everything we could think of. There are real fish inside, and it’s actually a functional fish tank. The control panel operates lights, gears, temperature, and opens the mechanical fish.”

They even put together an EXCELLENT video documenting the entire build process:

To see the step-by-step build process with great pictures showing plenty of Precision Board (they used a ton of PBLT-30), as well as everything else that went into this masterpiece, please visit the KDF Custom Graphics Blog.

For more details about the competition, please visit the Oxenham Design Forum.

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Ever Wonder What Happens at a 3-Day Sign Camp?

Last week signmakers got together in Bridgeton, IN. Held in a county known as the “Covered Bridge Capital of the World“, over 50 signmakers from all over the world were together for a creative learning experience. Thank you to Rob Jones, owner of Covered Bridge Signs for putting this whole thing together. Also thanks to Ed Morgan, owner of Branson Cedar Signs for these beautiful pictures!

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The Indiana sign camp was held over the course of three days and was an open-minded workshop covering everything from installation, signmaking and finishing techniques to tips for up-selling signs. Part of the beauty of workshops such as these is the wealth of knowledge available from everyone in attendance. Being so close to other talented craftsmen allows for a unique brainstorming of creative ideas, and really lets the goal of helping each other become successful shine through.

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Throughout the 3-day workshop, attendees were taught techniques from several well-known people in the sign industry including Dan Sawatzky of Imagination Corporation, Sandy Baird of Windwalker Signs, Jamie and Jody Oxenham of Oxenham Design, Peter Poanessa of Keene Signworx and Kellie Miller of Coastal Enterprises.

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 Each attendee received a CNC routed piece of Precision Board Plus PBLT-30 and was able to walk through the steps of building a 3-d sign including priming, painting and finishing techniques. Everyone had a chance to spend time with different instructors and all walked away with something new that was helpful to them.

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photo-1.4Sandy Baird from Canada, Kellie Miller, Manfred Didier from Germany and Jody Oxenham, also from Canada.

photo.5Mr. Wray Bassett of Graphic ID

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This is the 3rd sign camp held by Rob Jones, owner of Covered Bridge Signs, and the largest yet. If you weren’t able to make it, we look forward to seeing you next year!

Click here to see more pictures of the sign camp taken by Ed!