The Oxenham Aviary

I had 2 meetings today, one first thing in the morning, and one this afternoon. This left the day in-between to do a little work on our seagulls. I got the bodies and heads glued together, as well as the last slice of the wing cut and fastened on.

While these were setting up, I was able to toolpath the top portion of all 3 beaks. I havent posed the 4th seagull, so I haven't addressed him at all yet.

I could have applied 1 more level of smoothing to the beaks in Hexagon, but I figured that the whole beak would get sanded down because of the joints anyway, so I didn't sweat it too much. I sliced the beak for our 3/4 inch PVC sheet in Aspire, and the pieces lined up perfectly!

 I quickly test fit the beak, and I'm quite happy with it. I've been cnc'ing models for 6 years now, and I always get amazed when the real thing looks exactly like the computer model. I know, I'm a geek!
8)
JO

Back to building

Most of our computer-only jobs are coming to a close (although we are still quoting on new ones) This left today open to get into the shop and start creating again. A few of these projects are for ourselves. There is no signage on our unit, and I want something fun and unique. I spent the last little while thinking about what I wanted. As we are not located in the film district in the city, it would be pointless to advertise 'Film Props' on our new signage. We will still cater very heavily to the entertainment industry, but up here in our town, I will push our themed signage.  I decided that the 20"X120" sign box would house a sign for our themed signage, with our company name being displayed on the office windows instead. After spending a bit of time on the theme for the design, I chose a water-y style version. We are very lucky to be in a town that is nestled along the shores of a small lake, and one of the things that there is no shortage of are seagulls! I had modeled a seagull before for a display, but that character is copyrighted, so it would be pretty shady to use him. I spent a little bit of time on Sunday to remodel a new "Oxenham" version for us.

As with the last seagull, there's no need to model the legs, as they'll be threaded rod as a fastening system.

I cut the head off him, and brought the body into Aspire. The head removal was necessary for 2 reasons. One was to change the rotation angle so they weren't all in the same pose,  and the other reason was so I could machine the face portion of the head straight on.

The bodies and head only took about an hour to rough and finish machine on our Techno cnc.

There will actually be 4 seagulls on our new sign. 3 will be all crammed up on the right side, and there will be a loner on the far left. He will be leaning over the front, looking at the text portion. I don't actually have a finished sketch for the whole sign. I figured that if I was the client, I could skip the approval sketch :)

I'm not going to give away the final design on this sign, as I hope it will be a bit of a surprise to everyone reading, but I will show you the preliminary layout for the text portion.

The text is going to be laminated sintra letters on a sintra back panel. It's certainly going to lend itself to the 'by the lake' feel that I wanted.
8)
JO

Still kickin in Port Perry!

I though I would post to let everyone know who has contacted me that I'm still alive! The last couple of weeks have been very stressful around here! I have been doing nothing but computer modelling and photo-realistic rendering for a few clients. This has been a new avenue for us. When I started 3D modelling, I never would have guessed that I would be rendering displays and kiosks as a viable income. I though I would just be increasing my skillset for our work! I wish I could post some of this stuff, as I'm quite proud of the results we have been getting. But due to the fact that our renders will be a small part of larger proposals, it would be wrong of me to post these to the internet.

The other part of our stress has been moving. We have actually moved the entire shop a second time. Without getting into the freaky details, the other place was just not getting separated on any sort of reliable schedule, and this meant turning down a boatload of work, due to unavailable space and power requirements. I hated that part, but we had no other option. I am proud to say that we have now taken possession of a great space. 22' ceilings, a 15' X22' mezzanine as well as a brand new finished office space that looks fantastic. And as the space was completely gutted when we signed the lease, I was able to choose the flooring and everything. This was such a great experience, especially coming fresh out of the last "learning experience" we just had! I gotta tell you, as much as I love my Techno cnc, I don't love trying to move it......twice.

I am very blessed to have had all the people that showed up to lend a hand. Everyone was awesome and we got everything moved in 2 hours. I couldn't have asked for better friends and colleges.

There is still lots to do though. Finding a home for everything will take some time, but I have been working evenings at the new space, getting things set-up. I am sneaking in some time now and then to come up with a 3d sign for the front of the unit we're in, as well as design some furniture for the office.
I am really hoping to get started building something physical, as I fear I may be gaining a 'spare tire' from sitting at the computer all day.
8)
JO