Another good day for the KRAKEN

This morning the crew was eager to begin work on the KRAKEN once more. Marty fired up the mixer to expertly blend the special concrete mix the crew required.  Jenessa and Matt set up small scaffolds on each side of the dormant beast to comfortably reach the top of the conning tower. Peter started at the back of the tail and worked his way forward. They finished applying the magic mud to the twosections just prior to lunch. It was allowed to set until they were finished eating, then the real magic started.

As the sculpting began the painting crew was called in from outside to lend a handand once again we worked shoulder to shoulder to add the amazing detail to every square inch of the quickly setting surface. By the second coffee break they were done and everyone was grinning once more, pleased with the result. 

Here's a shot of the back of the conning tower.

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From the rear the submarine is quickly becoming solid and gaining bulk in a hurry.

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The contrasting textures of the gnarly boards and smoother, riveted metal plates is striking already and will become more so with the addition of the different colors and glazes next week.

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The sub's tail is complete and ready for paint. 

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The last sections of the KRAKEN will get their skin on Monday. The painters are already itching to get their hands on the sub and have all the colors laid out in readiness. It is going to be like nothing you have ever seen before. Stay tuned for more...

-grampa dan

A good day for KRAKENS

We decided to start the sculpted concrete at the front of the KRAKEN. We've been looking forward to it for a long time. There were last minute discussions as we began, deciding where we would put wood, where metal, how the joints of the arms would appear to work and of course the style, size and amount of the rivets we would sculpt into the concrete. Then the work began. We applied mud until lunch, then began the carving. Because it was a warm day (and our lunch was a little longer than usual to celebrate Hailey's birthday) the concrete was setting quickly by the time we set to work. It was all hands on deck, shoulder to shoulder in the tight space. Those carving below (in the path of dusty carving debris) wore their hoodies pulled over their heads. There's seven people carving in this picture, two more are out of frame.

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We started carving on the first applied mud and worked towards the fresher stuff. Carving took lots of time for on this project we are doing our best to raise the bar higher than ever before. We were also doing the most intricate part of the KRAKEN first. The steampunk ideas we are implementing are all about the details.

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By afternoon the front of the KRAKEN was done and the entire crew was all smiles. These guys do AWESOME work and I am very proud of each and every one of them!

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It was a good day for KRAKENS. Tomorrow we begin mudding the next area of the giant KRAKEN. We can hardly wait.

-grampa dan

Time to get kraken once more

The giant tree house was pushed out into the sunshine to make room for the KRAKEN in the workshop once more. It was time to make final adjustments and also weld the shipping bumpers and guides to the bottom for safe passage to Trinidad. Temporary frames and bracing were added to keep everything aligned during transport and handling to get things in place onsite. That process took the better part of the day to complete. 

kraken ready to mud front.png
kraken ready to mud rear.png

Tomorrow the sculpting process begins!

-grampa dan

Custom Design & Construction