The Copper Crown castle is looking more splendid every day as the base coats of colour are carefully applied. It won’t be long until the final glazes are being applied. Stay tuned…Who knew painting a castle would be such a great task?
To infinity and beyond!
I am often asked how I got started in this business and what was my first project. The very first pieces were play structures for our kids sandbox when they were toddlers. The work was crude and made of wood for that was all I knew. But soon we were getting the call for more elaborate creations. This spacecraft made for an arcade was a very early piece. I built it in our basement workshop with only the most basic tools. It had a crude metal frame, welded up by my good friend Norm. He welded up the railings and overhead gantry for me as well. Once the metal work was complete I fastened plywood ribs to the frame and screwed thin plywood over that. The curves of the spacecraft were determined by how tight I could bend the spruce plywood. I remember cruising the local hardware and thrift stores in search of ‘spacey’ looking parts which were put inside the cockpit and open side hatch. An old motorcycle helmet with a dark visor was plopped on top of a foam filled ski jacket to make the pilot at the controls inside the cockpit. I used some fibreglass and bondo to make the nose cone which was the most challenging piece on the craft. The wings were detachable for transport and to get the spacecraft through six foot wide double doors at the customer’s site. The piece was super heavy as we forklifted it to the second floor arcade and then dragged it into place. I remember charging a ‘fortune’ for the piece but it turned out to be a bargain as the price also included the entire spaceport display and hundreds of lineal feet of space murals ono the walls. The project took me more than a month to accomplish. But I learned plenty and had fun too! This was the beginning of a great adventure that continues to this day.
