This morning we unbolted and gently lifted down the upper portion of the Vala’s Apple Orchard & Cider Mill tree today and fastened it to the shipping stand. Then it was time to begin fabricating the armature for the large branch. The structural part is formed using heavy square tubing. Around this we are welding a pencil rod frame to which we will apply the galvanized steel mesh. This will be sculpted using fibreglass reinforced concrete early next week. The sculpted part of the branch tapers down to sections of pipe and steel rod and then to the plasma cut leaves. I also began welding on the first of the leaves which will eventually number more than a thousand. It went from looking like a haphazard and rather unusual structure to a real tree in a hurry. We will also be sculpting a bunch of apples to hang from the branches as well. While we work on this portion of the tree the painting process on the lower trunk has begun. It is a very fun and challenging project!