Deck Dept.

Another week of this old submarine type stuff. Nothing fancy here just installation of the laminate wood flooring over the old subfloor. Fairly straight forward stuff. I like this brand as it locks together and you don't have to glue anything. The floor just floats so it can expand and contract as it sees fit. Buddy-Lee (my dog) hates it however as it is very slick and he will spin out Scooby-Doo style if he gets in a hurry to leave.

The last picture shows the flooring all the way in and me getting ready to work on the trim. What are those wood things for? Well, the molding is going to conceal all the coaxial cables for the Internet and the TV coming into the room. The blocks stand out an inch and are somewhat shorter than the molding. When in place the cables will run INSIDE the molding and have a wooden cover over top concealing them. Clean. Nice.

When this is done I can start "moving in" and get my work bench working again. Wahoo!

Passage to Nowhere

I can now say with certainty that one small corner of the room is done. I have put the last touches on the closet and we can pull the curtain on that part of the project. Literally.

Everything needed pulled out of there, spackle dust wiped off, and stacked about in the corners. I painted the inside and the original trim molding I'd saved from earlier the darker green. It all just went back together fine. A simple enjoyable project with no hidden surprises.

The tassels are a Walmart find of all places as were the curtains. I like the look of them tied back but they don't HIDE anything that way. I'll probably add another curtain behind the two tied back ones. Oops..did I say done?

The other tiny little project was a replacement of one of the electrical outlets entirely and a fancy-pants faceplate treatment for all. The gold paint was too much so I washed them with a thinned black weathering solution which settled in the crevasses to bring out the details. Not too bad.

It's gotten too freekin' cold to paint my track lighting so I am moving onto the floor. I don't remember seeing much of the floor in the movie but I don't see any reason why Nemo wouldn't have put in a wood top over the metal structure to keep things a little warmer and quieter in a noisy damp sub.

Dark side of the Room Part 1

What we have here is the result of a series of compromises. The main problem was converting a 4 by 3 foot square window into something resembling one of the bulbous domes from the Nautilus. Since I had angeled this wall using a sloping false wall I had to create a piece to match that slope, evoke "roundness", and still allow for the main insert to be removable, in case of fire or whatnot.

Picture one shows the insert. It sets inside and upon a small frame inside the window sill area. It is also attached with two ring bolts that have been darkened to blend better. The unpainted circular area in the center will be cut away and an acrylic convex dome coming inside into the room with a diameter of about 2 feet will go in which will hopefully provide enough light for normal functions. The insert does not go all the way to the top you may notice. This is because this south facing wall gets very hot in summer and I wanted the air to be able to move freely. I can still see the top of the main window too so more hidey work needs done.

Picture two shows the hood installed. I just now figured out whats bothering me. The three inch strip needs replicated on both sides of the hood for continuity with the insert. That will make me happier about it.

Last picture is a treatment for the section below the window sill. It is a half-moon shape that will sport that fanciful scroll piece from Hobby Lobby hopefully breaking up the window area still further.

I am waiting to order the dome for a while so it will stay ugly for now. I am hoping to have the "eye" lighted using solar pathway lights.

In the meantime track lighting for the ceiling and closet flooring.

Plot me a course to the island of Crespo

Well now THAT map looks a lot better!

It went together quite well the 2nd time around. For scale I should tell you that the whole thing is five and a half feet by around four feet. This one is laminated and that process has made the colors a little richer than the first map plus it is easier for the magnets to slide over. Each of the magnets has a twin on the back side holding it in place. A decorative button adorns the top magnets which ride over the maps' surface and are attached using two-part epoxy.

The magnets are powerful enough to follow each other when the top one gets moved so they can be placed over a ships plan at will keeping things firmly in place for taking reference measurements or just general study. If I pull the top magnet too far away and the inner one drops there is a lip catching them on the inside and its just a matter of hovering over the right spot till you hear the "click" of magnet mating. It really does work slicker than I thought it would.

The skinny window has gotten its deep-sea frame attached and looks as nautical as a long skinny window is apt to look. To the right and in the other three corners I have put up the last of the riveted strips. I thought they needed to be a little smaller for some variety and they still need a little weathering yet. Next up is the big window where I will be going for the glowing "alligator" eyes look.

That should get the neighbors a little more nervous than they already are...

Underhand, underwater, and damned un-English

Hey lookit my submarine!

Now things are looking better. I have spent the week preparing all the hull frames and painting up the embellishments and gluing them on to the individual members.

Using some "extra grip" liquid nails and for the middle ones Marsha's grip, we attached them to the ceiling and walls. I had to splice in the straight sections in the middle using the same glue and some seam filler which was actually a model-railroading landscape foam that would not attack styrofoam and could be painted the same color. Turned out good, most of the seems are hidden now.

The light fixture is pretty neat too. It hangs a bit low for my taste but when I bought it I thought I'd be able to mount it flush to the ceiling but instead it has to dangle using one chain link. I will try to shorten it up some because right now my head only has about 8 inches of clearance and the heat cooks my noodle.

I'll be framing that small skinny window next and running some more rivet straps up the four corners and also, stay tuned for Map Version 2.0

Dumbasses of the Caribbean

That would be me.

I was looking forward to posting about my FINISHED map/plan holder but I had a terrible disaster in the making of Map version 01. I will be putting up a HUGE map of the Caribbean on the east wall that will double (with the help of powerful magnets) as a ships plan holder for easy reference. All very well, so I took the map spray glued it extra flat to the backer board and wanting that old world varnished look began Modge-Podging all over the top to seal it and give it some brush strokes. The map began popping up and wrinkling everywhere and since the glue was beginning to make the paper stiff I couldn't pull it taut again. Total Disaster! I removed the old map and took two hours sanding off the glue residue to re-use the board for map Version 02, which will be fully laminated and I have done away with the vanished look idea altogether.

It just shows that not everything works as planned and a project like this has lots of steps back as well as forward.

The first image is the hull frames, painted, and with some decorative flourishes I've molded from wood masters that I will be painting and gluing onto them to add that extra touch so they aren't so plain looking. The second and third images are of the map backer and the gilded frame which is now ready for installation when the new map arrives.

The frames are going up next then the map. Stay tuned...

Front Yard of Terror Part 2

"Booty Island" is a full size rendition of a Halloween village piece I noticed this year. The item is called "Greedy to the End", and it seemed to invoke a great back story for our skeleton dude here.

Originally there was to be an audio track for him as well but I ran out of CD players. It was going to be ocean sounds and seagulls and such and will be included in next years display. The whole island is fairly fragile being just stretched sand colored cloth with real sand sprinkled over the top for looks and the tots would have been clamoring all over it if not for the imposing looking skull/chain fence.

Notice my vast booty? (Hee) The larger parts are Goodwill store finds and the coinage was mostly bought in bulk from Party America. The glowing jewels effect is a textured clear plastic insert from an industrial overhead light fixture cut to size and set in the chest with some LED lights on a changing pattern underneath giving it that captivating glow. Not my original idea mind you but an adaption from something I saw on the web.

That guys' booty wasn't nearly as impressive as my own however.