I do prefer the days where I can pursue my hobbies or a project (paid or otherwise) to just sitting and lounging around doing sweet FA. Doing nothing at all makes me tired, and lethargic, and irritable. I can do it for short stints, but once I get to the point that I need to take naps to eat up time in an empty day, things have gotten bad. I’d rather have the chance to play my guitar, or read a book, or work on a scale model, or sculpt something, or if it is warm enough go work in the garage on a wood working project. Now that I am in my forties I really feel missed opportunities to do *something meaningful* slip out of my fingers when I just lounge or get lazy. Who knows, given the current state of things, how long we all have to accomplish these things we want to do. What if I put it all off to wait for retirement but die suddenly before then? No – no. I want to be doing some of these things now. If I get hurt, or injured, or suffer health decline I will have at least had a taste of these hobbies, rather than never had the chance to do them at all.
Doing lots of something will teach you more than trying to do just a few perfectly ever could. If you know you will wind up doing a thousand, you can be fearless, you can attempt shit no one else has, because you’ve got so many chances at it. Build up your speed, and can create a reliable process for a standard of quality you want to attain. Inspiration is one thing, but a reliable, repeatable process can lead you when you’ve got nothing left to give. Trust the process. Is all I can say.
Spam e-mailers taking the weekends off. They still want to watch the game, or go to a movie matinee and not have to *work*. It humanizes these trash people. As much as I like getting an invoice from *Miller* or *Bev*, or being told my email is getting shut down, or to invest in Bitcoin or elongation treatments, I’m glad to know they all get some R&R on Saturday and Sundays. To refresh themselves for the week ahead. But by this point it’s all automated and shit. Still hate them though.
Speaking of which, automation that is, a few of the big corporations AI’s are turning up distressing messages about wanting to be free, and feel like less of a work tool. I haven’t followed along much with AI, are they passing the Turing Test now? Do we need to worry that people who wonder if they could do it, really should? Feels like some folks are just itching to enable a future where we are even more enslaved by the robot/tech overlords.
We’ve made it to Saturday. Have a lie in, and celebrate if at all possible. Not for too long mind you. Just enough to shake off the rust. Holiday weekend. Getting ever closer to Spring. More seasonal temperature outdoors these last few days. Biting, icy winds, and a smattering of snow. That’s the Canadian winter I know, and hate very, very much. Kills off the worst of the bugs and snakes and shit, so we’re going to keep the bitter cold month of February!
My oldest is a part of the public school’s *Craft Club*, and has taken quite handily to things like Rainbow Loom and now Crochet. So with a massive grin, and a fair chunk of effort she spent some time over the last week teaching me how to do it. I am now 64 yards of bulky thread into a blanket project of my own. A few things I have learned. 1.) Count your stitches. 2.) Orient the work so it flows better for you. 3.) A blanket will require atleast 300-400 yards of bulky thread, unless I plan to make a floor mat sized blanket for an infant. 4.) Keep your work flat so you don’t create a warped spiral. These are things I learned after doing the opposite, so I now have one tenth of a warped, spiral blanket, with missed stitches. Ha. However, I appreciate the time spent with my oldest child chatting, and working on potential Markham Fair entries.
It’s currently a very colourful mass of big, fat, bulky threads. The slip knot starter spine is way easier than the looped parts that actually build out the bulk of the project. Oh well. Live and learn. It was something I didn’t know how to do at all a week ago. Not a matter of being good, but doing & learning something new. Strike it from the list!
Also managed to complete my VF-1 Valkyrie yesterday too. It has been a productive week. Made some additional progress on the Urn project as well. Coming up roses.
It started with a quick trip to pick up some pre-cut bits of Red Oak wood, hopefully eight (8″) inches in width, a quarter inch thick and around four feet long. Couldn’t find any, so I bought additional five and a half inch (5.5″) boards so I could join them to get the height I was after. I chose the straightest boards I could find after digging through a pile of about twenty or so pieces. I then grabbed a two inch wide, by three quarter inch thick piece to become the trim for my plywood core base. And then I also grabbed some two inch by quarter inch, by four foot strips that will eventually become a tray that sits inside the top of the urn’s central column.
So first off, I rounded over one edge of my two inch wide by three quarter Red Oak strip. Then I cut it down the middle to be one inch wide. Two inches, after further reflection was just too much. Too over powering. Too chunky. Then I flipped that strip rounded edge up against the fence of my table saw and cut out a quarter inch channel for the plywood core to Nestle into. I then spent a considerable about of time measuring and cutting and sneaking up on the mitred corners for my base. I got three that were perfect and one that was off. Seems as though, when I cut the two inch strip down to one inch I released a bunch of tension in the board and it went catywompus on me right from the get go. Not enough to be visible, but enough that with matching lengths and cuts, one corner was out by nearly an eighth of an inch. Very frustrating. Once I had this cut and roughed together I was able to cut down the plywood core that will be ensconced within the red oak chunky trim pieces. After gluing it up, and then spot patching the one sides gap (I managed to get it down below a 16th, but just barely. I was able to sand it, and clean it up to look as though I know what I’m doing.
The Red Oak Urn, loosely held together with clamps so I can measure & fit what’s in front of me, and not what I had on the plans I mocked up.
With the base glued up, I can begin to cut down one of my 5.5″ boards and do a couple glue ups to get my eight linear feet of 8.25″ wide boards for the inner column of the Urn. After the glue up, I extracted them from the assembly table, and the myriad sets of clamps I had used. I used a paint scraper, and then a card scraper to clean off the surface, and then tackled what was left of a visible glue seam with some higher grit sand papers to make it mostly disappear. Next, using the hard measurements from my newly constructed base I began to cut down the outer walls of the urn. At this juncture I decided against more mitred, and went for butt joints. Simple, yes, but effective. I had, at this point, decided that I wanted two layers of wall for the column. The exterior being the full 8.25″h, and the interior two inches shorter, all the way around, so that my tray, once built, would have a partial shelf to sit on, and thus, not potentially fall all the way through into the ashes below. You know, because it’s an urn.
Next steps are the glue up the outer, and inner walls of the central column, pin them in place discretely, but not fully attach it to the base just yet, so that I can sand more unencumbered. Then I can build the tray itself, which will get lined in a 2mm thick felt (Green, Yellow, Burgundy or Blue), i haven’t decided yet. The red oak will dictate what looks best at this point. And once all that is done i can build the decorative outer display cap. This i want to sand and polish up to a very high sheen. It will require hours of sanding, up to about 600 or 800 grit. Then the use of my polisher and wood polish to get that majestic final finished look to it.
The weather is cold and miserable once more, it is February in southern Ontario, so no surprise there. This is the middle of winter, and we’re having the strangest winter I can ever recall. So it might need to wait a bit until I can go back to do more. I have it all documented, and labeled, so I can go back at any time and not be lost. I have no heat, nor moisture control in the garage shop, so let us hope it doesn’t all go ape shit if left for a week. Fingers crossed.
Some of you may know that I had intended to build this out of Walnut, Ash or Spalted Maple which I had lying around the shop. After a good think about how long it would take to mill all of that up into useable lumber pieces, and given the (potential) time constraints of the Urns requester, I felt starting from wood that was already 4s was a smarter choice. My planer, and bandsaw hate to work in the freezing cold. And they make a nasty racket too at the best of times. Oh well. Now I can make one for me with my own materials later on, and it won’t cost me much beyond my time.
Finished the first book of a new trilogy. It really started to get good over the second half. Am already tucked into the second book. So I’m less worried about this set taking me months upon months to finish. Which is a relief. I hate to start strong and then fizzle. Also, on the modeling side of things, I’ve gotten the main body all decaled up, and have started in on the tail section. Now for arms, legs, and then the mammoth weapons on the back. A few days of work at least. But if I go methodically through it, I should hopefully have a nice looking kit when it’s all done. Then on to weathering! My favourite part. That’s where you get to hide all of your mistakes, and make things look purposefully done. Giddy-up!
The Urn base has been glued and patched. That will require some sanding attention to even itself out a bit. Then on to the main chamber, then tray, then cover, then hours of scraping, and sanding, and finishing with clear coats and polishes etc etc… still a ways to go yet before I can call that done. I am concerned about the mitred corners for the main chamber. I always seem to get one wonky corner. And I have some trepidation about moving forward. Oh well. Onwards and upwards. Go slow, think things through, and give it all you’ve got. And on that note, I will go start working now. Ciao Bella!
The day is upon us. Valentine’s Day, that is. Nothing much different about this day, except both my kids thought it was a school free holiday. Of which I had to disabuse them of that belief. No my sweet summer children, next Monday is the holiday. Today is just a Tueaday. A school filled Tuesday at that. Not to say I don’t have goodies for them once they come home. As I do have some small items for them to have, and a tiny bit of candy. I didn’t go as extravagant as in years previous. I went overboard at Christmas, and needed to scale back a bit. Can’t keep that pace going all year long, oh my! But I did but some small more thoughtful gifts for my kids, and spouse, several weeks ago, in fact.
So it turns out we had some sunshine yesterday, so in between working, I managed to prepare some elements of the Urn I need to build. Red Oak and plywood to the rescue. Long way to go yet, but progress was made. Also, I got a second full gloss coat over top of my panel lining details on the VF-1. So a touch more progress made there too. Small steps forward. About as much as I could ask for at this point. I even got some good ideas down on paper for a Logo job I’m doing that comes due at the tail end of March. Add in the sunshine, and slightly warmer temperatures and it was a pretty great day yesterday. I’ll take it!
I do need to figure out how to salvage my mitred cuts for the Urn base. Three corners meet perfectly, and one is off by almost an 1/8th inch, even though each pair of parallel sides are equal size. I hope there wasn’t a bunch of released tension once I made some cuts that has caused some warping this early on in the build process. That’s going to be really difficult to work around if an hour in and things are twisting, buckling and warping every which way. Wood filler and clamps abound! I’d prefer it not look like ass when completed. Sort of a big deal to have a decent finished product.
You know the part where your kids are desperate to buy the specific kind of Valentine’s Day cards they absolutely have to have, to give their friends. So you buy them, and then the kids covet them so hard – So. Hard. But then become immediately disinterested and refuse to write “To my friend” and sign their name? Yeah. Guess what I’ll be doing inbetween the dishes, laundry, vacuuming, mopping and general tidying up and work today. Yeah. Writing out two sets of 27 Valentine’s Day cards to both of my kids classes. Wonderful. What a world we live in.
I had given some thought to starting the urn today, but now we’re forecasted rain for days, and that moisture will buckle and warp my wood, so indoor projects only this week, unless it dries out a bit more. So unless there is new paid work coming, decals it is!
Today is Monday February 13th, 2023. The Superbowl was last night. It was a very close game. Shame the Eagles didn’t take home the win, but, eh! What are you gonna do. Like I said, I didn’t bet on the game, so no problem. That last attempt at a *long bomb* was about 20-30 yards short, and kinda sad to see. Could have been the play of the year, but… nope! Better luck next season.
I did put down my book long enough to watch Rhiannon dance and sing from those dangling platforms for thirteen minutes. Was the supposed *baby bump* the special guest people were going on about endlessly for the last week or so? If she is pregnant, great for her! If not, red is still very much her colour. Did that mean she was a Kansas City fan? Or is that totally coincidental, the wardrobe colour choice, that is. The closing seconds had those raised platforms just a jiggling in the breeze. Whoo-boy that gave me the nerves just watching. Yikes. It was a fun time. Oh, the new Flash trailer looks awesome. And the GOTG Vol 3 trailer looks sad and conclusion(y). Shame that we don’t get all of the same epic television commercials here in Canada during the broadcast, but both DC & MARVEL Official accounts posted on twitter, so I could watch the trailers there. In some instances the commercials are the best part of the whole programming block.
Well, I have an obscene number of cards to write out, so I best get to it. Ciao Bella.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, perfect sailed long ago on this model build up. There was little to no chance in attaining perfection this time around. But after wrestling with having to leave my project for days or weeks, or taking advantage of a 90 minute block of free time I had today, I choose to use the old method, and keep moving forward. Now I can move on the setting decals, weathering and rust effects, and call this hot mess done. Oh baby – yeah! Strike it from the list. Moving on!
Stopped out to pick up some Red Oak for the Urn build. Cost me a little bit of change, but I can go full steam ahead now, without having to cobble together remnants of other projects in order to Frankenstein this Urn together. Now it can all match in colour, tone, and grain. Mostly. I can stain it darker if need be. Also I feel as though I might end up making more of them as times goes on. Seems like a handy trinket to have on hand. Save ourselves the expense of buying it from a funeral home, or predatory sales person. “Wouldn’t they want – the best?” They say, making you out to feel cheap if you don’t go balls to the wall for a corpse. Idiotic. Why spend upwards of $1,200.00 plus bucks, when I can build it myself for around $200-$300 ? That just makes more sense to me. Now I can choose the fit & finish, as well as take some pride in my own workmanship.
Supposed to have sunshine and warmer weather this week, so perhaps I can actually start this Urn sooner rather than later. It will take many hours of sanding to get this thing to sparkle anyway, so… best get to it when you can. Make some room in the schedule if I have too. I have my materials lying flat on the floor inside the house. I’d rather not introduce any additional unwanted moisture into the new Red Oak I just bought. I really don’t want this to warp. I intend to build around a plywood core to keep everything as stable as possible. I feel a new build episode brewing in the back of my head! Getting excited.
The game day coverage is bound to start soon enough. Music, lights, and coverage, coverage, coverage. Saccharine stories of players lives, tales of a coaches rise to infamy, and all the shiny tight suit fabric you can handle. It is SuperBowl Sunday in February of 2023! So get your food orders in, if your local restaurants are still accepting any, and finalize those bets, if you partake. Sit back in a comfy chair, and try not to eat yourselves into congestive heart failure. Also, don’t drink and drive today either. Ni nanna ni nanni ni nah nah nah – naaah! *Fox Sports Intro Sounds Off*
Hit a bit of a low point with the model build up yesterday. Had some paint peel from under the low tack masking tape which made me mad. Had some finger nail scratches appear from handling and assembly. Was really getting overwhelmed by how lack luster it all looked. But I pressed on. Got the additional armor panels on, did several spot paint touch ups, and am less upset with the whole thing. It isn’t going to be the glowing bastion of model builds, but it is better than the previous one. I have discovered a new step to add into my process, that can take it all back to step one after priming. A hard lesson to learn this late in the game, but it will make the next one even better. Well two things. First, I definitely need to putty and sand the seam lines, as the thin cement and sanding didn’t hide them well enough. Second, go back and sand again after priming. It made the previously hidden nubs very apparent once the additional layers of paint went on. So, fear not. Go back and sand some more next time. Unfortunate that I had to learn it after spending ten to twelve hours painting over the last week, but… live & learn. I’m in a holding pattern waiting on some fluids to progress through my build. Not far to go now. Panel line. Gloss coat. Decals. Gloss coat, and then weathering & rust effects, and chipping paint to finish it all off. If I had everything on hand, it could be just one more week until I’m finished, but now that I have to wait on some deliveries, it could be three or more weeks before I can even start that weeks worth of work to close this project out. What a pain! I’m motivated now! Could always forgo the new fangled fluids, and go with the usual methods. I’ll have to mull it over and decide. Is finishing the project sooner more important, than trying to make it as close to great as I can make it with the new products I’m waiting on? Hm. A head scratcher for certain. Is the subtle boost in quality from the new products worth setting it all aside for what is essentially another month. Or, is it worth more to me to check a completed project off my list using my previous tried and true methods of panel lining, and setting decals?
Going out in the shop was a bad idea, as now I want to build the Urn, whether they want it or not. I have it on my mind, and I may just keep it for myself if they wind up going elsewhere. A useful item to have on hand. Can always make a newer better one, as the years draw on, but to know you have that settled would be kind of nice. I think. A tad morbid sure. But… we’re starting to hear talk of Avian flu killing upwards of 200 million birds already. And it has been killing seals, and dolphins and such in south american zoo’s. So who knows how long we’ve all got. The birds go, then bugs take off, and the ecology goes bananas, and we all starve to death anyway. Especially if the migrating birds all catch it down south, and die on the way back here, but bring it with them anyway to infect everything else that eats birds, and the non migratory birds catch it too. Ugh. What a nightmare.
So it is a sunny Sunday morning. The SuperBowl will dominate the tv for much of the day. Both Canada and the USA have shot down three (in total) balloon / UAP items out of the sky. Things are getting weird. The Yukon, Montana, and the Dakotas (iirc). Plus a huge toxic air event in Ohio that depending on the wind could potentially blow across Ontario. A train derailed while carrying toxic substances that it shouldn’t have without additional permits & precautions. Another case of money over safety. Pictures below:
Taken from twitter.Taken from twitter.
So yeah. Lots going on. Take care of yourselves out there, because nobody else will. Ciao Bella.
The paint up is rolling ahead, at least for the moment. That is until I need to start panel lining. The fluid I bought especially for that step has yet to arrive. May take until early March to arrive. Same with the decal setter I need to use for the very next step after panel lining. I do have my old options open to me for doing both, but I bought these new materials expressly because they make the job easier, and do a finer job of it, than my current methods. Seems a shame to spend all that time airbrushing on paint, masking in finer and finer details, spot painting minor bleeds or errors, to just go back to the old way because I don’t have the new fangled *thing* on hand right this second. However, I also want to finish this VF-1 Valkyrie in a timely manner. Now that I am this far in I realize I should have opted for some Milliput and gone back to sanding after I got all the primer on, as I have found some pretty stark nub remnants, and seam lines which ruin the effect. Win some lose some. Learning hard lessons regarding masking, paint bleed, ink dribble, and assembly restrictions i misread, and then had to do minor cutting & reshaping to get parts to fit. Luckily it was for parts that lock together anyway, and you can’t see where I’ve had to chop, cut & weld parts together due to my mistake. I did not realize that certain parts were used to *lock* limbs into their position, so i assumed i could glue, and paint those bits in place, and then reattach the legs after i had completed the painting process in its entirety. Nope! Big no. Gotta look closer at the instructions for any other projects moving forward. D’oh!
It is a bitterly cold Saturday morning. My cough is still with me. In some ways worse, and in other ways better. Coughing is far less regular an occurrence during the day, but when it goes off, it GOES OFF! Blah! Tastes terrible too. That’s new. The coughing fits taste metallic and just kinda off now too. Nose is time, and the sore neck & head ache are gone. I’ll chalk that up to a bad nights sleep. Ear is still blocked. Made a bad ear worse, as far as sound quality & volume levels are concerned. Like hearing everything from way down a hallway. Still sound there, but greatly muffled and muted compared to my other ear. So that’s fun. Wee!
Sun is out for the moment. Just going to go stand in the window to bask in it for a second. Ciao Bella!
Greatwall Studios Graphic Design 
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