Blue Sloth

Working Late

South Main Project: Update 37

Coliseum

The Coliseum is complete. Kelly's lions grace the entrance. And the waves are almost upon us. Perfect timing.

Rain

South Main Project: Update 36

It seems like every afternoon a thunderstorm rolls in. I work in the rain until I hear the roll of thunder. Then I sit inside the studio and watch the rain fall until I'm satisfied that it's just a rain shower and go back out to work . . . only to be chased back inside a few minutes later by another crack and rumble.

Orchard, Iowa

Sloths Sculpting

Davidson's Angel

South Main Project: Update 35

Meanwhile back at Blue Sloth Studios, work continues at a strong clip. I work in shifts of four to five hours. Anything longer results in far too many careless burns, and the fatigue begins to affect my ability to make sense of the complex relationship between the pieces. I could keep welding past that point, but I've found from experience that I just end up ripping the pieces down the next day.

I work late into the night on the second shifts, and find the cool air and darkness peaceful. I am behind on pictures, so I'll let you catch up over the next few days, interspersing sandcastle images with angel progress. I am quickly nearing a momentous and marvelous point where I will begin hanging wings off of my creation's slender shoulders.

Kids Arrive

Summer Sandcastle Contest VI

The kids arrive on the beach after their trip to Brookgreen Gardens with their Nana. I have helpers! And Nana has brought a cooler of drinks. There's nothing better than to sit on the beach after digging giant piles of sand all day long with a carving tool in one hand a a cold drink in the other, slowly whittling away the sand as the waves creep closer and closer behind you.

Kelly and Isabel set to building the monumental sculptures that would adorn the entranceway to the Coliseum. Yes, Alice got it right. I continued to carve out my archways, and Alex built some long lines of tanks and roads to be destroyed as quickly as they were constructed - and then he headed off into the surf.

You will now get to see the completion of the sculpture, and it's inevitable demise at the hands of the ocean.

Arches Begin

Summer Sandcastle Contest V

Sandcastle Contest IV

Four hours have elapsed. Tide is on the way in. Outer wall has been built, one sand pancake at a time, the gaps have been filled with slip and smoothing has begun.

Summer Sandcastle Contest: Day III

Sorry for the delay. Up 'till one this morning working on the angel before I couldn't think straight. Came inside and realized I hadn't eaten all day. Foraged for shrimp and potato salad. Collapsed. Couldn't sleep. Woke up at 4:14, tossed and turned. Gave up at 6:00. Back at work by 8:00. Isabel who had breakfast at 6:00 was carried outside by her big sister just as I was starting my first welds. "Daddy, daddy?" Woeful expression on my barefoot daughter's face. Her big sister has carried her outside. "Daddy? Isabel hasn't had breakfast yet." I shut down my torch, flip up my goggles, turn off my iPod, remove my noise cancellation headphones, set down my torch, filler rod, and steel. "What?" Kelly repeats, "Isabel hasn't had breakfast yet." She looks concerned. Let's not forget Kelly has just fixed her own breakfast with no problem not ten minutes prior, after oversleeping and missing her early-morning swim practice. "Yes she has. She had oatmeal and made Play Doh animals two hours ago." Kelly looks at me blankly. "Oh." I frown at my daughter. "Did you have breakfast today?" She looks at me innocently: "Yes." I smile back as I slide my goggles back down. "Good, Kelly she's fine. She had breakfast. Everyone brush your teeth, wash your hands, put on your shoes and come outside. It's beautiful out, we're going to have a great day." Of course I was wiped by 10:00 and started burning myself by 11:00. Since the burns are turning into scars that I will have for the rest of my life, rather than wounds that heal (think branding yourself with steel heated with a 2000 degree torch) I decided it was time to knock off for the afternoon. I have to drink water constantly with the heat. And add in my pot of coffee and I felt like I couldn't stop peeing. Sweat just pours off me. So hot outside. Came in, took my first shower since Monday and felt like a new man as I put on a real shirt (with collar! clean!) and took everyone for the fine dining experience of Bojangles. Ridiculously over-battered fried chicken never tasted so good. I won't even tell you what size family pack it takes to feed three beasties, one sloth and a mola these days. Alex has been begging for Boom Blox for Kelly's new Wii (birthday present) and we scanned the reviews before looking for a used copy after lunch (universally loved by critics). Got it home and it's safe to say it's one of the best games I've ever played. It's as close to virtual reality holodeck as you're going to get in the next five years. You can grab, push, yank and throw blocks. You can heave baseballs and bowling balls at blocks. You can create your own levels and designs. It is intensely fun for a family with school-aged children. It is even more fun if you can get the kids to give you a chance to play. Just amazing. Some of the multiplayers levels are like the world's greatest Jenga games (without having to rebuild the blocks afterward) where you try to remove blocks without toppling. Others are like the greatest games of "knock down the tower" with cows and penguins and pandas dancing and cheering you on (the soundtrack is addictive too - maybe I just need to get out more). Anyway, we played that until I looked at the kids around 8:00 and said innocently enough, "Are you guys going to want dinner or have you had enough to eat today?" Off to store. Back, Kelly cooked the burgers, I think I had everyone in bed by 9:45. Hey it's Summer. Wife creature came home about ten minutes after everyone had fallen asleep. Perfect timing. I cooked my steak, sat down to eat and realized I hadn't posted. Here I am. Steak is cold. I have movie to watch. I might make it through the previews before I fall asleep.

Inside Out

Summer Sandcastle Contest II

Two hours have elapsed in today's pictures. Yesterday's picture was after one hour of digging. My mother has taken the kids miniature golfing, so it's just me and a shovel, sunshine and lots of sand. I have spent two hours of digging a mound, hauling buckets of water from the ocean, pouring the water over the loosely packed sand and packing it tight with my hands. I am now beginning the excavation process, from the inside out.

Summer Sandcastle Contest

I had a dream. Nice things, dreams. I love waking up and remembering the details. This morning I blinked and stared out at the glorious sunshine and felt a strong desire to recreate something not from my imagination, but from my travels. I wanted to build something from the real world out of sand. So I set to work doing something different.

I'm going to post pictures of my progress during the day, from humble beginnings to wave-ravaged end. First one to guess what I am building wins a small piece of my angel.

Bocce Racetrack

On a rainy day, I decided to try something new with the kids on the beach. I built a small tower of sand atop a sand berm and began slowly building a racetrack for the heavy bocce balls. It took trial and error to roll them a short distance and slowly pound out a hardened path for them to roll on.

The kids loved it and we built three side-by-side racetracks, with banked curves and long straight-aways. We continued to mark our "new record" rolls as they progressed further and further down the beach.

Arch Castle

The carving on the castle towers continue apace, and the finishing touches are applied as high tide draws near. The waves fill the moat at first, and the kids scramble to find a seashell that represents them and place it carefully somewhere on a tower. We then await the inevitable surge of water that will topple our all-day creation, marveling at the power of the ocean.

The shells become our avatars and there is some excitement about whose shell will survive the longest. Oohs and ahhs are heard as big waves splash over the battlements and sometimes re-arrange the locations of our avatars. There is usually some replacement of the shells as we speculate about rescue teams throwing ropes down cliff faces and lifting us back from partially collapsed buildings.

The seashells are rescued for good as the last of the towers fall and we stand side by side in the fading sunlight watching our million ordered grains of sand slip back into the waves.

Sculpting the Towers

Construction is completed and sculpting begins.

Building a Summer Sandcastle

I am building a sandcastle with my kids. The basic design has been laid out and a central mound has been created by throwing sand from the moat excavation into the center. Four bridges have been built with two towers guarding each entrance. There will be a central spire, in the form of a monumental arch, four smaller surrounding towers, and eight guard towers outside the four bridges. The twin towers which will make up the legs of the arch have begun to rise.

Kelly is involved in all facets of the design and building now, helping me conceptualize and even helping me dig (we bring four real shovels to the beach now). Isabel and Alex dabble all afternoon until we get to the carving process when they get very interested. The carving of the towers is the most fun, and all three beasties are getting good at it.

However, there are long stretches where everyone is surfing on their boogie boards, or eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches under the umbrella, watching dad work. It's hard to get good help these days . . .

Beach Beasties

Isabel in the Sand

Building sand castles with my kids is one of the nicest parts of being alive.

Leaning

South Main Project: Update 34

Father Daughter Game

For our end of season baseball party, we held a picnic out at the ball fields. We fed everyone pizza and cake and had a parents vs. kids game on the big field where the adults play softball. I got to play shortstop and fielded hard grounders for the first time in a quarter century. First three batters all tagged the ball my way, and I scooped them up and threw them out like I was still wearing the Brookwood Bullets uniform (green with gold highlights).

I was a little kid, but I was really good at baseball. I played pitcher and first base and have a stack of MVP trophies in the attic and thousands of great memories of my mom and dad playing catch with me, pitching batting practice in front of our air conditioner unit (which made a "ting" noise when I missed and the ball whacked into the louvered vents which were forever bent and beat up) and a thousand games on grassy fields with well worn dirt paths between the bases, and long grass everywhere else.

Some things you just never forget, and how to get down on a ground ball and make that hop-skip-step toward first must be one of them. Lot's of, "Atta boy coach," from the dads and groaning from our best hitters as they went down one, two, three.

The parents agreed to bat opposite-handed, so I trotted up to bat when it was my turn and stepped into the batters box from the left hand side.

The last time I took a swing as a lefty, I was five-years-old and playing underhanded coach pitch in the Cub Scout league. My dad was trying to make me into a switch hitter and when I stepped into the box from the left hand side, the coach shook his head, "No way," knowing just how far I was going to hit it from the right side. He didn't want me experimenting. A shame probably in the long run.

So I decided I'd be nice and just lay down a drag bunt, maybe catch the kids by surprise. When the first pitch came in I squared around and started running as I made contact . . . but the ball rolled foul.

I shrugged and thought to myself, 'Well I'll just take one easy swing at it. Why not?' Next pitch came in and I swung low to high, making sure I wouldn't hit a line drive and *crack* the ball sailed into the air. Not a big swing, felt good to make contact. But everyone in the outfield started running toward the fence, and there were soft "oohs" from the moms watching from the hill.

I trotted down to first as the ball sailed over the 290 sign in left center field. I grinned at Kelly as I made the turn for second, but she scowled at me. I wonder where she gets that competitiveness? No cheering for dad! I want to beat dad! She gave me a begrudging high five as I went by complete with trademark eye roll.

My first home run in 25 years and my first ever from the left side. Felt good.

"Coach Philip went yard!" The other coaches slapped me on the back. "That's your weak side?" I nodded. "I'd like to see what you can do from your strong side." I grinned.

The kids came back up to bat and got lots of swings, stole lots of bases, acted silly and generally had a blast. Kelly got a single down the third base line, and I tripled into the gap on my other at bat, slowing down to goose kelly as the ball rolled to the fence.

During the awards portion of the party, the head coach had lots of nice things to say about Kelly, and when the team mom brought the coaches their thank you gifts, she looked me in the eye and said, "And Coach Philip . . . a word for every kid with every pitch. Thank you."

I probably remember every at bat from every game, and I tried to get their feet set between pitches, or get them set, or get them to relax, whatever they needed to do to get them primed to hit the ball. I was full of words of encouragement - I guess I never really shut up when I was out there. I'm glad it was well received.

I will think back fondly on this season, Kelly's second season as a ball player, my first as a baseball coach, for the rest of my life. It was a new and wonderful experience for both of us.

And later that night when I was getting ready to go play soccer, Kelly came and put her arms around me and said, "I'm proud of you dad."

What more could any man wish for?

Hands

South Main Project: Update 33

Very hot day, but made solid progress on abdomen up to the sternum.

Fabrication Notes

South Main Project: Update 33

One thing about working outdoors in the early summer . . . thunderstorms roll in late in the afternoon. There will be no welding of the ten foot steel sculpture when you hear thunder. It's already been well-established that sloths are highly flammable, I'm sure we also conduct electricity very well.

A pair of birds started to create a nest inside the angel's hollowed out belly overnight. I could not reach all the twigs, so I had to be a fireman like Montag in Farenheight 451. Hopefully the birds will get a sense that my sculpture is not the best place for a new home.

Working outside in the heat means I eschew jeans and a shirt for the airy comfort of soccer shorts. I am prone to yelping more as sparks and splatter singe my chest and legs - things that would just singe clothes instead - but I am not quite so unbearably hot. And I'm getting a great tan.

It's beautiful outside this morning, and already getting hot! But I just swapped out my tanks so I am ready to go on this lovely Friday. I'll post some pictures of my progress tonight.

Torso

South Main Project: Update 32

It's been extraordinarily hot here this week. In the mid 90's before you even factor in the steel which just gobbles up the heat and reflects it, the concrete, and the welding. Sweat pours off of me all afternoon. I watch it drip onto the steel and evaporate within moments.

I have reached the sternum in the front, and finished the small of her back in the rear.

Sunset on Mars

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this stunning view as the Sun sank below the rim of Gusev crater on Mars. This Panoramic Camera mosaic was taken around 6:07 in the evening of the rover's 489th Martian day, or sol. Sunset and twilight images are occasionally acquired by the science team to determine how high into the atmosphere the Martian dust extends, and to look for dust or ice clouds. Other images have shown that the twilight glow remains visible, but increasingly fainter, for up to two hours before sunrise or after sunset. The long Martian twilight (compared to Earth's) is caused by sunlight scattered around to the night side of the planet by abundant high altitude dust. Similar long twilights or extra-colorful sunrises and sunsets sometimes occur on Earth when tiny dust grains that are erupted from powerful volcanoes scatter light high in the atmosphere.

Nearing the One Year Mark

South Main Project: Update 31

We are nearing the point where I got the initial email from my patron's art consultant in the Bahamas one year ago, inviting me to submit an entry to the Call for Artists. From invitation to brainstorming to submission of ideas to serious drawing of concepts to final acceptance to prefabrication to the 30 previous posts detailing my progress, it has been almost a full year.

Certainly the longest project of my life, and it feels like several years have transpired when you factor in just how much progress my children have made in the interim, how hard it has been to function with the mola mola gaining traction within my body, and just how many milestones have passed in between sessions in the studio.

I'll look up the actual date that I was sent the voicemail informing me that I had been awarded the contract. I was at the Wynn when I got it, and I really didn't believe it when I heard the message.

Before I reach my next birthday, there will be a piece of monumental art in Davidson, North Carolina built by me.

Hip

South Main Project: Update 30

Wind

The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home. First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of whitewash all over his black fur, and an aching back and weary arms. Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing.

~ The Wind in the Willows

“Since I grew tired of the chase
And search, I learned to find;
And since the wind blows in my face,
I sail with every wind.”

~ Friedrich Nietzsche

“To reach a port we must sail, sometimes with the wind, and sometimes against it. But we must not drift or lie at anchor.”

~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

“In the love of narrow souls I make many short voyages but in vain - I find no sea room - but in great souls I sail before the wind without a watch, and never reach the shore.”

~ Henry David Thoreau

Tools of the Trade

South Main Project: Update 29

The cutting torch is used to cut triangles out of a 4' x 8' sheet of sixteen gauge steel. I left the pieces in place for the second photograph. They were held together by little bits of molten steel. I sometimes have to pop a piece loose with a hammer; this time I let them dangle for the photo. The sun was so bright, it made an interesting pattern of shadows beneath the steel.

The rusty old clamp is used to bend the steel into curving triangles of varying radii. I sit on a milkcrate that my dad used to store tools in, and bend each piece by hand.

The results of the work are lined up so that I can pick through them and fit just the right piece onto the sculpture when the time comes. I estimate there are over two thousand pieces welded into the angel right now.

Sloth Fish

"Contrary to popular belief that the mola is simply a lazy lollygagging sunbather, it is in fact quite an industrious creature, plumbing the cold dark depths of the ocean repeatedly over the course of a day."

"In today's ocean, highly impacted by human actions through climate change, overfishing, and pollution, some experts predict that only low energy forms like jellyfish will prosper. The mola, which subsists primarily on a jellyfish diet, could end up being the fish of the future."

A good article from 2004 about the Mola mola

The Angel is Outside

South Main Project: Update 28

I have successfully moved the angel outside the studio. She will be completed outdoors where her height will not be a concern. This will also allow her to be moved upright to her final location after completion, rather than needing to be tipped over to get her out of my studio.

I bought scaffolding and assembled it yesterday. I will now have a stable and safe platform for working on the top half of the sculpture.

Dang-it-Dolls

I'm not the only one who enjoys a good flato. Check out this story about a Grandmother who makes stress dolls for our troops.

A South Carolina grandmother has become a sensation among stressed-out U.S. military men and women around the globe by sending the most incongruous of gifts: pliable, google-eye dolls.

Not that soldiers, Marines and airmen are doing much cuddling with her hand-stitched, foot-tall playthings. Carol Davis' "Dang-it-Dolls" are built to take punishment from homesick, frustrated troops and her work is getting rave reviews.

"The legs are shaped so you can grasp onto them," Air Force Staff Sgt. Rachel Staub wrote in a recent e-mail recalling her homesick days based in the United Arab Emirates. "It returned with me to the States with an eyeball missing and the stitching around the legs loose with some of the stuffing coming out."

The little doll "was used mostly for laughs and to keep my mind off being homesick," said Staub, of Melbourne, Fla. "It brought a smile to all our faces!"

Nearly 17,000 of the goofy dolls have been shipped around the world in the four years since Davis made her first one and sent it as a joke to her grandson, who was in the Air Force then in Aviano, Italy.

"I thought it would get a rise out of my grandson, 'Why are you sending me a doll?'" Davis said. "But after I sent 'em, I got messages back: "Can you send us some more?'"

Another story about them.

Giant Chilli Cow

It has been awhile since I've had a chance to post about unusual animals here at the Blue Sloth. Most of you who will remember that I have an affinity for cows and hope to someday own my own mini cow or two, let them roam amongst my sculpture gardens out in the countryside.

Well on the other end of the mini cow spectrum we have Chilli. This black and white Freisan bullock is 1.9m tall and weighs more than a tonne. He dwarfs most horses, is the same height as a small elephant and casts a shadow over his cattle companions.

However, nine-year-old Chilli grazes just on grass and enjoys the occasional swede as a treat at his home at the Ferne Animal Sanctuary in Chard, Somerset, where he was dumped at six days old.

Friday Night Lights

Tonight is our final baseball practice of the season. Tomorrow morning we play the Mets in our final regular season game before the playoffs. The Mets beat us in week one, but we are a different team now. The kids have made amazing progress this season. It's really fun to watch them play.

I'm looking forward to working with the kids on hitting one final night. It's cool and breezy and something tells me that this is where I'm meant to be: working with my kids, welding when I have the time, coaching whenever possible, and living each day to its fullest.

Tonight I am taking everyone to see Prince Caspian.

Cutting

South Main Project: Update 27

I have merged the three basic facets of building the angel into a more seamless routine. Instead of running out of pieces and having the creative process grind to a halt while I shift gears mentally and prepare myself for a week's worth of intense physical labor, I do little bits at a time. Before I would spend days cutting out hundreds of pieces of steel, then several more painstakingly bending them by hand into gently curving triangles before lining them all up in preparation for fabrication.

I now do mini-batches While I do run out of material more quickly, I don't lose the creative thrust that has been propelling me to that point. I pause only long enough to cut out another day's work and then press forward, making sure to resume placing pieces again before retiring for the night so that it is all still fresh in my mind the next morning.

Scale

South Main Project: Update 27

Kelly poses with the angel to provide a sense of scale. Kelly is 52 inches tall. As you can see, I am making tremendous progress on the work.

Left Leg

South Main Project: Update 26

I have had a great week of work in the studio. The left leg is nearing completion.

I'm off to baseball practice, then I'm taking everyone to see Speed Racer. I expect the kids will love it. I'm looking forward to the Clone Wars trailer debut in front of the movie, and will enjoy watching the kids enjoy themselves during the feature.

Coaching Kelly

Baseball was fun last night. The Cardinals won the game in the bottom of the fifth and Kelly drove in her second run of the night with a single to seal things. She was 2-3 and had one ground ball hit to her at second base. She has earned the role of starting second baseman and she is very proud to jog out to her position at the start of each inning. We have practice Friday night, and a game Saturday, Monday and Wednesday.

My View

South Main Project: Update 25

This was my view on Friday afternoon. I have since connected the left knee to the right hip. It is not completed, but the bones are built and the muscles and tissue are taking shape. I rebuilt the knee too while I was at it.

It wasn't perfect.

Yes it was difficult to carve away weeks worth of work with the torch. Yes it looks much better. Yes, I'm obsessing over all the details.

I have put in three of the strongest days of work I can remember in a long time. I am very pleased with my current level of energy and focus.

I'm totally wiped right now, but I'm looking forward to finding some hidden depths of adrenaline and energy for my 9:20 game in a few hours.

I played great last night, even on a bum foot. I look forward to repeating the feat tonight.

Let's Talk Baseball

Kelly and I are walking to our baseball game on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon. I'm carrying her equipment bag over one shoulder and she has her mitt tucked up under one arm. She looks like she's been playing ball all her life; she walks with that jaunty air of relaxed confidence. We're both silent, content to soak up the sound of the birds, the trees, the exuberant shouts of children ahead.

She's wearing the St. Louis Cardinals colors: red hat, red shirt, white pants, red socks, black cleats. I have a matching red hat on, and my coach's shirt. I could walk by her side forever - in these quiet moments I can place my fingertips lightly on her shoulder for an instant and tell her that I love her without a word.

We crest the hill overlooking the park and see three diamonds spread out beneath us. Spectators are sprawled out on the hillside, watching a softball game. It's Kelly's age group, and I can sense her interest.

"Do you want to watch for a minute?"

She nods.

Some girls from our street wave to Kelly from the bleachers, but her eyes are studying the game. The girls are wearing shorts, and long socks pulled up to their knees. A coach is pitching very carefully to one of the girls.

"They're pitching underhand," Kelly says with undisguised surprise.

"Yep, it's softball."

"And the ball is huge."

"And yellow," I note as the batter hits a dribbler down the third base line.

"It's so slow."

Some boys from the next field are beckoning. Kelly's name is hollered. "C'mon Kelly."

We resume walking toward her teammates and she looks up at me, "I'm glad I'm playing baseball."

"Little different hitting 40 mph pitches, huh?"

"Yeah, I think I would be bored in softball."

"Well I'm very proud of you for playing baseball."

She grins and runs ahead to greet her team.

And proud of her I am. She's not only bonding with her teammates and making friends, being a good sport, showing enthusiasm and spirit - all things I fully expected her to thrive at - but she's also becoming a solid player.

I have become the de facto hitting coach, and all the players are showing improvement at the plate. I have gotten so good with the pitching machine that I can put each pitch exactly where I want it, and I tailor the pitches to each hitter's preferences.

Kelly is an excellent contact hitter and I've been working with her to develop power, so that she can start driving the ball.

In her first two games she was 1 for 3 and hitting ground balls to the first baseman. We adjusted her swing and stance, and I pitched her hundreds and hundreds of balls.

In her last three games she is 8 for 11 with a triple and three doubles. She has been ripping the ball up the middle.

I lobbied the head coach to move her up in the lineup along with several of the boys who have really been showing improvement and after looking at the stats, he agreed.

Last night Kelly came up with two outs in the third inning and two runners on. She took the count all the way to the seventh pitch and then drove the ball into left field for a double, scoring both runners.

In the sixth inning, with the game on the line she came up again with two outs and two runners on. She fouled off pitch after pitch and I kept trying to deliver them right into her wheel house. Finally on the tenth pitch, she hit a ground ball up the middle for her third hit of the night, scoring both runners.

The smile on her face was priceless.

Cockpit Floor

Jedi Starfighter: Update 13

Ready to Soar

Jedi Starfighter: Update 12

Building the Wings

Jedi Starfighter: Update 11

You're now looking at work being completed in March 2008.

Rainy Day

Jedi Starfighter: Update 10

April 15, 2007

The thunderstorms chase us inside. Which is good because my hands were cracked and bleeding and my back was killing me - and it gave us a chance to run to the store and buy a huge roast and good bottle of wine. While the kids played in the bath, I took a crack at making real Risotto for the first time.

It came out pink because I had no white wine to add - only red! So it was the Red Sloth Risotto with onions and asparagus. Very delicious and colorful.

Building

Jedi Starfighter: Update 9

April 14, 2007

After two great soccer games and a delicious (if hastily devoured) breakfast at the Soda Shop, we bid Mama Sloth farewell and sent her on her grown-up adventure and set to working on our project in the backyard.

There's lots of measuring and cutting and hammering at this stage. In order to give the ship clean lines, I decided to create a visual border around the outside of the wings - think of using a black magic marker to outline a pen and ink drawing. It should give it a bold look.

However this has necessitated another set of structural spars, since the end of the planks which would have been secured at each end will now end six inches shorter than originally planned. Those boards need a place to be secured.

This also means that there is not a single 90 degree angle cut on the whole project, which means each board must be carefully measured and cut on both ends and then put together like a giant puzzle.

The kids love this of course.

To keep the ship from looking like it was assembled by Ewoks, I made Alex and Kelly a 'monkey board' for nailing in nails. You can see it in these pictures. Any errant hammer strokes fall on the 'monkey board' and don't leave those telltale half-moon marks on the wing.

Airframe

Jedi Starfighter: Update 8

April 13, 2007

Jedi Starfighter Day 9

I'm having more fun building this than I can describe. Kelly is old enough to really learn what's going on, and Alex is getting the basics of hammering, measuring, and so forth. They're all tuned into the notion that we've made a plan, and now we're executing it step by step.

As far as the actual ship itself, I'm very, very pleased with the structure rising up out of the ground. The lines are dead straight (not the easiest thing to do with treated lumber, particularly lumber that has been sitting outside getting wet, expanding and contracting under the sun and moon) and level, and it is positioned just high enough off the ground to appear to be floating over the surface.

We sank the last four posts for the wings on Monday - it took one more trip to the hardware store for 50 more pounds of concrete - and with 10 posts the thing is rock solid. We've been framing the wings for the last three days, finishing just before soccer practice.

Today we'll be designing the pattern of boards that will comprise the wing panels.

Progress

Jedi Starfighter: Update 7

April 12, 2007

Designing the Wing

Jedi Starfighter: Update 6

April 11, 2007