WELCOME!


It is hard to believe that it was almost ten years ago I witnessed a CNC router in action for the very first time. I was fascinated with what I saw and simply had to have one! Although I had been in the creative end of the three dimensional sign business for most of my life I didn't really know what I would do with one - but I just knew it could do fantastic stuff.

Through extensive research and LOTS of hands-on practice I quickly found out that my MultiCam router was capable of just about anything imaginable.This journal will chronicle that journey to date and continue each week with two or three entries as I continue to explore just what is possible with this wonderful tool... -dan

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Big visual progress

Work continues on the Viking ship project for Motiongate Park in Dubai. With the deadline quickly approaching the entire crew is working hard to finish off the features.The piece closest to finish is the large target. The last coats of the base colours were painted on yesterday.


That meant we could apply the glazes today. The painting crew worked in teams, liberally applying the brown and dark grey glazes and then judiciously wiping them off. This process takes advantage of and highlights the textures and cracks. The plain grey instantly turned into believable rock.


Certain areas were left very dark or even second coated to make them look deeper.


Once the glazes were done and dry it was time to go back and apply even more magic. Lighter colours were dry brushed on highlighting the tops of the rocks and the deep texture. Then we sponged on various shades of greens, greys, tans and oranges to create believable looking moss. More dark glazes were brushed on to create streaking and aging. And some various colours were flung on with wet brushes to create more texture. The process looks pretty random but it takes a lot of practice  and skill to get it all looking right.

 


As soon as the rockwork was dry it was time to take off the upper sections. We have to build stands for all the pieces. Next week they will be stuffed into containers and sent off to sea for their journey to the middle east.