Two large pieces currently fill the shop workspace. These are the two masts for the Viking ships. Tomorrow they will get the last bits of glaze and clear coat to finish them off. They measure thirty two feet in length and twenty-five inches in diameter at the base, tapering down to eleven inches in diameter at the top. They appear to be aged wood and rusty steel in keeping with the Viking theme. We are currently working hard to bring up the quality of our sculpted wood grains while still leaving in just a bit of our famous slightly cartoonized style. It's working well!
Musical chairs
It is a bit like musical chairs these days as sections of the ship leave for and return from the galvanizers in the city. Juggling the giant sections of ship is no mean feat, especially within the tight spaces of the driveway between all the other pieces but we are managing. This morning we loaded and sent off the top half of a ship. That meant a bunch of pieces (which we sent off last week) came back this afternoon. All that bright silver steel means the crew can begin applying the lath to the ships and very soon begin the sculpting! We've been waiting for that day for a long, long time!
Penciling in the boat.
Today there were three of us camped under our welding helmets, working hard to finish off the last Viking ship for Dubai. Peter was busy welding up the last of the structural steel frame. Jack and I were welding the pencil rod armature. Each piece of quarter inch thick steel bar is carefully shaped by hand and then welded into place. The object is to form a wire frame of the sculpture, slightly under size to allow a skin of concrete to be towelled on over top. Once we are done welding we hand tie a galvanized, expanded lath to this frame. I formed, cut and and welded over three hundred pieces of steel into place today. Jack did his share on the other end of the boat. Another few thousand feet of pencil rod should finish off this part of the project. It is looking more like a Viking ship every day!
