We decided to start the sculpted concrete at the front of the KRAKEN. We've been looking forward to it for a long time. There were last minute discussions as we began, deciding where we would put wood, where metal, how the joints of the arms would appear to work and of course the style, size and amount of the rivets we would sculpt into the concrete. Then the work began. We applied mud until lunch, then began the carving. Because it was a warm day (and our lunch was a little longer than usual to celebrate Hailey's birthday) the concrete was setting quickly by the time we set to work. It was all hands on deck, shoulder to shoulder in the tight space. Those carving below (in the path of dusty carving debris) wore their hoodies pulled over their heads. There's seven people carving in this picture, two more are out of frame.
We started carving on the first applied mud and worked towards the fresher stuff. Carving took lots of time for on this project we are doing our best to raise the bar higher than ever before. We were also doing the most intricate part of the KRAKEN first. The steampunk ideas we are implementing are all about the details.
By afternoon the front of the KRAKEN was done and the entire crew was all smiles. These guys do AWESOME work and I am very proud of each and every one of them!
It was a good day for KRAKENS. Tomorrow we begin mudding the next area of the giant KRAKEN. We can hardly wait.
-grampa dan