The sculpting process on the Sign Challenge piece is going to take a while for at this scale it is all about small details. I started with the top of the trestle and then will work my way to the bottom. In today's session we managed the top beams and the railroad tie. Having Grant mix the epoxy for me made things go a whole lot faster. Tomorrow I'll mount the rails and pike them into place. Then the train can be mounted. That's where the real detail happens! Stay tuned...
Train frame
I spent the day grinding, and welding up the pieces for the box/frame of my Sign Invitational Challenge piece. The key at this stage is to get the piece feeling like it will with all of the icing on the cake. The structure has to be sturdy enough to handle being shipped thousands of miles and moved frequently.
Let the fun begin
With a fun Christmas behind us I had a chance to sneak out to the shop for a little while to design the cutting files for the sheet metal base. The routed pieces had been glued up just before we broke for the holidays and they look pretty good. A little sanding and they will be ready for the sculpting process. The loading of the steel took longer than the cutting. A CNC plasma table is an awesome thing! Tomorrow I'll do a little grinding and then the assembly will begin. Stay tuned...
