Peter loves Caryatids and Atlantids, draped female and male figures carved from stone and part of columns that support buildings. Four of them will be featured inside the Copper Crown. We began creating them today. Peter created the 3D mesh files of the figures, and I then converted them to routing files. To make these pieces, I sliced the computer sculptures into two-inch-thick layers and sent them to our CNC router. Our ShopSabre CNC router made quick work of carving the files. Next, I’ll glue them up, and then we’ll do a little hand work and also apply a thin coat of sculpting epoxy to make them look like ancient stone.
Loaded and ready
Between the efforts of our hardworking crew, Greg, of Wishlow Cranes and Jason, the driver for JD Transport the lift and tie down of the pieces was quick and easy. Every piece is now safely secured and ready to travel all the way to Vala’s Pumpkin Patch in Gretna, Nebraska, a distance of about 2,900 kilometres (1,800 miles). As planned, the features fit exactly with only a couple of inches of deck space to spare - the perfect load. The entire load weighed in at just under 20,000 lbs which makes for a light load on this rig. The trailer will sit in our yard for a couple of days, until the weekend, when Jason will bring his truck to hook up, check things over one last time and then head down the highway. I board a plane on Tuesday morning and will see the features again on Wednesday morning of next week when they arrive for installation by the Vala’s crew. As always, I am sure the colourful features will draw lots of attention in transit and the Vala’s team is eagerly looking forward to their arrival. Let the fun begin…
First colour!
Yesterday, Juniper and I splashed the first bit of base coat onto the Hornae Toade sign. I couldn’t resist doing a bit of a blend to imagine how it might look as we proceed. When I am done, this will be a very colourful and fun piece, as I have many ideas I am itching to try. I just need to find a little spare time. Stay tuned…
