A recent project involved a very traditional sign with an old fashioned flare. We built a water tower which stands over the gold panning attraction. It will of course 'supply' the water for the sluice box where kids will pan for 'gold and gems'. The water tower also acts as the sign for the attraction. The weathered boards of the water barrel are actually sculpted in concrete as are the giant timbers, mining cart, trestle and even the roof shingles. The crew did a great job too.
Rather than build a dimensional sign I decided to dry brush the logo onto the rough surface making it a weathered ghost sign.
Yesterday I added the weathervane topper fr the water tower - just one more small detail to tell the story in an authentic fashion.
-grampa dan
Posted by Ian Stewart-Koster (Member # 3500) on :
Lovely weathervane- just perfect! Posted by bill riedel (Member # 607) on :
Another winner for Dan the Man. He will never run out of ideas.
Posted by Dennis Raap (Member # 3632) on :
Looks great Dan the dry brush effect turned out awesome!
Posted by Susan Banasky (Member # 1164) on :
Very cool Dan.
Posted by Shirley Carron (Member # 2446) on :
Love it Dan!
Great article in Signcraft too!
[ January 27, 2014, 09:18 AM: Message edited by: Shirley Carron ]
Posted by Dale Feicke (Member # 767) on :
Really cool stuff, Dan!
The weather vane looks like bare metal. You just going to let it rust naturally?
Those sculpted logs....did you build a wire or steel rod frame first? Very neat!
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
It's a nice start, but a little WD40 and a light sanding to take care of that rust and then get Raymond to come up there and fill in the letters and it will all be fine.
Posted by Dan Sawatzky (Member # 88) on :
We first welded up a structural steel frame, followed by a pencil rod (1/4" round bar) frame.
We then tied on the galvanized steel lath and then troweled on the concrete for carving. The sculpting was done in sections over a period of days.
The weathervane is a combination of welded (bare) steel and Abracadbra Sculpting epoxy. It was painted with the iron paint which will acquire a coat of rust patina over time.
-grampa dan
Posted by Shirley Carron (Member # 2446) on :
So - Looking at the 'cages' in picture 2 - the insides are hollow, except for the steel structure?
OT: How much Abracadabra Sculpt do you go through in a week?
Posted by Dan Sawatzky (Member # 88) on :
The insides of our pieces are hollow save for the structural steel. Even so they are heavy. We installed this piece last week and it weighed in at a whopping 6,800 lbs.
Here's the frame
And here's the crew carving the wet concrete
And here's the piece on the trailer - ready for delivery
We purchase 1000 lbs of Sculpting epoxy at a time and it generally lasts us about a year or so. That would average out to 20 lbs per week if you divide it out. Sometimes we go through more - depending on the projects we get. The weather vane used only a little sculpt probably three or four pounds at most.
Most of our projects are made from steel and fiberglass-reinforced concrete. We go through tons of that!
We also go through 7-10,000 lbs of Precision Board (50 - 75 sheets) each year. I like to have lots on hand at all times. Because we are rather remote the freight is the big expense if we buy supplies in small quantities.
We go through many hundreds of gallons of paint too.
[ January 28, 2014, 12:21 AM: Message edited by: Dan Sawatzky ]
Posted by Raymond Chapman (Member # 361) on :
Remember: "Buy in Bulk"!
Posted by Pat Welter (Member # 785) on :
All look Absolutely wonderful, your getting quite a crew again, and though I can't hear your voice directly in your writing here, I still hear the excitement... Nice projects...
Posted by Dan Sawatzky (Member # 88) on :
I hired crew member 16 this morning. Full speed ahead!
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
