When I lent my services to a collegue who was working on a film about 12 years ago, I was introduced to the world of cnc. I remember watching this huge machining centre milling out a slab of mdf and turning it into a fantastic set of gears. I knew that it would have taken me hours to achieve the same thing with traditional power tools. I decided then that I would invest in a cnc router for my own business Oxenham Design. At that time I could turn on a computer, but even to check email seemed like a crazy set of operations. I persevered and learned every piece of relevant software I could get my hands on. I am now fortunate enough to be using Vectric's ASPIRE software, and Techno cnc routers, which has helped us to create some amazing projects, both in part, or in full. I thought that this blog would be a great place to share "behind the scenes" adventures with the software, materials and equipment we use, as well as the projects we build.

Thursday 11 April 2013

It's not easy being green. It's not quick either!

I would ask: "When will these letters ever end?" But I know the answer, when they're done!


They're everywhere. They're on shelves, they're on tables, they're on the railing, the workmate, the floor. If there was one more sentence, we'd have to rent more space.
But Jody and Anna got them done by 6:30. We'll load them up in the morning and deliver them to set. The photographer Vicky, and prop stylist Christina popped in this morning to check them out, as well as do some measuring. I really like Vicky, she is always so easy going. She was the photographer on the gingerbread Christmas torture shoot we did a while back.

____________________RACE-CAR____________________



I didn't get to clear coat the spoilers for the racecar, as one of the pieces was being used on the car while Karen was sculpting the driver. But I did get the color on them. They look killer!
This whole car is completely overboard for it's purpose as a proof of concept model. They only wanted a small model, but I negotiated getting it back after, and I wanted it to be really cool. Not only to WOW them, but as a display after. It didn't ultimately add much more to the cost, but the end result is way over the top.
I machined up the helmet first thing when I got to the shop. I had to get that done before Karen could start the sculpting of the driver. It's oversized to the driver, and looks really funny! The visor will get cut from some sort of black material, and wrapped on. The helmet is quite big at 4" wide. I was able to steal it from Karen after a bit to get the primer coat applied. This will go high gloss like the car.
The car got completely taped off so epoxy covered fingers wouldn't get all over the shiny new paint job the car got the other day. The steering wheel was cut from the end of 1.5" abs pipe, and glued to the angle I wanted. The rest was up to Karen. She started with a foil armature, built around the 3" screw the helmet will fasten to. The whole sculpt will be epoxy putty. Karens a big FIMO sculptor, but baking the driver after is out of the question, as the base plate and steering wheel are all plastic.
We decided that the driver would look great if he was driving like a total "dude" cruisin' for chicks, Except in a racecar. That's funny! So he'll have one arm on the side of the car.
 He's even got a little zippered pocket to keep his racing license in I guess.
 The other hand is on the wheel, and looks great.
His little racing glove makes me laugh! Some guys get all the chicks, and this guys a chick magnet!

Karen took the car and driver home to finish tonight, and I'll pick it up tomorrow from her.
We have a busy day tomorrow, dropping off, and picking up some more material for the other jobs going on. The clear coat will be flowing tomorrow before I leave if it kills me. Once that's done, It's just final assembly left on the car.

Today was a blast at the shop! I'm not sure if it's because there were 3 stellar ladies working, or if because the day was filled with laughter and jokes, but whatever the reason, I'm glad I get to do this for a living!
8)
JWO










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