Forward motion

So here is the maquette in it's finished form.  This is one of the better pictures too, I found out that photographing plexi is a lot like photographing glass... hard.  The working scale here is 1 inch to 1 foot.  The frosted plexi squares are 2 in. X 2 in.  So a working height of 6 feet hung from a 8 foot (from the floor) ceiling grid.

This is the foot print of the piece on the floor in tape.  I know you can't really see it but I wanted to show this photo for the light in it.  This is the light coming into the MFA space every morning and it is beautiful.  I think that light in combination with lots of frosted glass will be spectacular, hell that box is going to glow.  So here's the foot print without the funky angle.

The spacing of the columns was a problem on the maquette, I'm trying everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen for the final build.  To figure that out, it's going to take another model.  A "to scale" model at that.  I'll be taking 2 ft. square pieces of cardboard and arranging them to figure out the best spacing.  Keep in mind there will be "dead zones" in the grid from the hardware that keeps it together, I'm trying to hang the piece with that in mind.  The final model won't be finished until the end of this week, and that's if everything goes smoothly for the rest of this week.  I want to get some pictures of people standing around it for scale... maybe some of my classmates?

The specialty hardware I need has been ordered, the glass I need (that I had miscalculated about) has been ordered as well.  The glass should be here at the end of the week, the hardware order will be filled in about 2-3 days with another 5-7 days for delivery.  I'm working on having the polished glass reinforcement panels done by the end of this week, Sunday at the latest.  The next batch of panels coming in will sandblasted, so not much cold working there.  

Working with glass can be tricky, it's more practice than anything else.  I have to keep in mind the Fiberwave video and bend with any changes that might come my way, there is a way around any problem.  Gaming circles call this the "way of the water warrior", having a plan but being fluid enough to react to anything that can happen and to remain fluid through the encounter.

Maquette Progress - Part 2

The maquette is coming along nicely, the base and support structure for the grid are mostly done.  Patch a few holes on the base, drill a few holes to hang the plexi from, a dash of black spray paint and base will be done.  This was a pretty easy build for the most part, all the supplies used here... styrene sheet, 1/4" square styrene tube, 1/8" round brass tube, 1/8" square brass tube, styrene cement, and superglue are available at any hobby/model train store for a reasonable amount.   This build was only $15, but I can get a rough idea of what it's going to look like and how it will work.  All that is really left to do is straighten a few more paper clips  to represent the cable holding the glass from the Unistrut grid.

"No plan survives contact with the enemy"

  

There was one, grossly overlooked detail that escaped the production of this model.  The struts are 6" long, the exact measurement of the plexi... they need to be at least 6 3/4" to allow spacing between the rows of hanging plexi.  If this was the final, the glass would banging against each other and breaking.  No problem though, that's why I wanted to build this model.  To see any potential problems in the build and correct them before they could become a major problem later.

Maquette Progress

As I wait for my materials to arrive I decided to make a maquette to see if there might be any problems with structure or details such as the drawings that might need extra thought(s).  This will also allow anyone whose talked to me about my project to get a better idea of what I'm thinking about, as opposed to seeing a xeroxed copy of the sketch stapled inside my sketchbook.  This gives me something to present to my peers for my progress crit as well, that will probably be next week.

So far this was yesterday's work with a few hours this morning.  I just need a few measurements, like the floor to Unistrut height, and I can start the final assembly of the whole thing.  The model should be finished this evening.

When I can't work on this I have other tests to run at school.  Drilling through glass that was Hxtal-ed together on Thursday, to see if the glue separates and if I can step up that window of opportunity without having to wait the full week Hxtal takes to cure.  Making a jig to glue the small reenforcement panels to the large panels, a rack to store the large panels as they are worked on, and a stand to rest the panels in the sand blaster are all things that need to be done as well.  I'm going to try and scavenge as much as I can from my house for these items to keep the cost down.  The project is already more expensive than I had initially thought is was going to be, and I refuse to cut corners on the materials directly involved for the final presentation.  The support materials, well they just need to hold it together for a few months.