Nikolai

Every once in a while, I run into someone who absolutely inspires me, and I instantly want to learn more about them. A few weeks ago, I received an email from Nikolai Deleff, a young man who is from Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. He had visited West Edmonton Mall with his family and was awestruck by the work we did there in Galaxyland and around the mall. As he carefully studied the theme work, it lit a fire in his brain. To quote Nickolai’s email, “The themed architecture, tiled roofs, vibrant paintwork, and whimsical details (like the dirigible) completely captivated me. My family quite literally had to pull me away. That experience struck something at my core as an artist and gave me a moment of clarity: this is the kind of work I want to pursue as a career.” He then did his research, and eventually that led him to us.

His words made me remember my first visit to Disneyland so many decades ago, for I knew well all those same sentiments I read in his email. I did a little online research and quickly discovered how remarkable this 22-year-old is. Here’s his website. Nikolai already has two short animated films and two self-published books to his credit. His website is organized and well-thought-out. I decided to give him a call. As I spoke to him, I discovered that while full of confidence, he was down to earth, humble and extremely eager to learn. We talked for a while, and I invited him to drop in for a visit if he was out this way. He inquired about my schedule and then booked a flight - my kind of guy! We spent today together, talking about this business and answering many questions he had. This evening, we went into the shop to look over the projects and for a little hands-on basic training. I sent him back to his hotel tonight, and I’ll spend some more time with him tomorrow. Before he left, I gave him a notebook and a pen to write down his thoughts and questions, as I knew his mind was racing a thousand miles an hour. He won’t sleep tonight, I’m sure. The force is strong with this one. :)

Build a Buddy sculpt

We currently have three smaller signs (plus the giant letters) in production for Downey’s Farm. One of them is this cute Build-A-Buddy sign with a fully sculpted, stuffed donkey toy as the dimensional centrepiece. The background and Build-A-Buddy lettering are routed on our ShopSabre CNC router from 35 lb Precision Board. This was laminated over a welded steel frame and bracket for mounting. Once that work was done, the fun began. Laura’s task was to keep up with me, mixing sculpt as I formed the toy, positioned the top lettering panel and then added the detail to the stuffy. In a little less than four hours, we had him done and ready to paint.

The letter Y

After two days of cutting plate and structural steel and completing a bunch of detailed epoxy sculpting on four signs to make them ready for paint, it was time to start assembling the project I’ve been looking forward to all week. This afternoon, we began the actual assembly and welding of the giant DOWNEYS letters. Since the ‘Y’ was on the welding table, we started with it. I first welded together the two halves of the back plate, added the 1” x 1” upright spacers at the corners and then welded on the front border. Because the pieces of plate were cut on our FastCut CNC plasma, everything fit perfectly and went together easily. With the front and back of the ‘Y’ perfectly aligned, forming and welding on the 16” tall sides of the letters (also plasma cut) proved to be easier than I imagined. Once the bottom was welded on, I cut four holes and slipped the structural steel into them, which was then welded to the letters. This protruding frame will hold the letters upright and secure when bolted to the on-site concrete foundation (cross members and mounting plates yet to be added). This frame will also make it easy and safe to stand the letters up and then sculpt the woodgrain faces of the letters. There is still plenty of fitting, welding and grinding remaining to be done on this letter, along with the six others, but it is always nice to get into a project never previously attempted and realize the plan we concocted is actually going to work.