Today was bug day in our shop as we did the sculpting of the six large, mechanical ladybug bodies. Four of the ladybugs struggle to hold up the giant six foot diameter globe. A fifth bug will be dancing on top - in a tutu of course. The sixth ladybug is hanging precariously from the giant twisted tree while holding one end of the the BugWhirled banner. We also managed to sculpt the top branches of that same tree today. It was a good day for bugs!
On to the next
Work continued in the shop as we move towards completing the features for Playland at the PNE. The giant 'wooden' globe is getting more colourful by the hour with the globe portion almost complete and the ribbon getting it's base colour. Tomorrow we will begin the sculpting work on the strongmen ladybugs holding the globe aloft.
The extremely difficult job of applying the wire lath to the complex tree armature is almost complete. This feature will also get some concrete mud applied tomorrow as well.
Everybody loves a parade!
Whenever we move some of our creations it is a lot like a parade. Everybody loves a parade. When we roll by people suddenly stop what they are doing, point, smile and wave. At the worksite it is more of the same for our clients... it feels a lot like Christmas morning with wonderful presents to unwrap. Today was that day.
The adventure began with the giant crane pulling into our yard, followed by the flatbed truck. We carefully hooked up each piece and watched as it was hoisted gingerly onto the truck. Once everything was in place our crew supervised the tie down, tucking old towels into potential friction points to protect the paint. Everything was checked, and checked again before the mobile adventure began. The giant flatbed truck looked a whole lot like a parade float with all of the brightly coloured pieces carefully arranged on the deck. Then we gave the signal to proceed and the sixty mile long parade begins. We kept in touch with our client along our journey so they could coordinate their crews with our arrival and as we approached the excitement mounted. After a quick onsite meeting with our crews to work out all of the logistics we untied the load and one by one the features are hooked up and carefully craned into position. All went well and every piece was loaded to it's new permanent home.
Much like the angel on a Christmas tree, the crowning piece was the radiant Flutterbye. It 'flew' into position from on high. In the space of a couple of hours our latest exciting escapade was done. But, in a few weeks we will have another parade with the second load of features for the PNE. Stay tuned...
