Volcanus interruptus

Vacation Bible school has been over for a month now, so I decided to finally get the photos off my camera and post them. The top shot is what the volcano looked like when completed. Doesn't look too impressive there because you can't tell how tall it is and it doesn't have all the plants around the bottom.

The only other shot that I got was during VBS from the back of the chapel. But at least you can see the size compared to people. The VBS director thanked us many times for the volcano. (Yes, we got a big "thank-you" card signed by all the first-graders.)

The next posting will be about the play I was in at the Spencer Theater in Ruidoso, NM. It was the Agatha Christie mystery "Mousetrap." We only had two weeks to memorize the script and we played to a packed house. It was wild.

Now for the brown paper skin

Here's a life lesson: when you make wheat flour paste, don't store it in a Tupperware bowl for two or three days. That is, unless you want sourdough. When we opened the tub yesterday, the odor and the bubbles let us know we were fermentin'. The stink stayed on my hands for about 24 hours, even with washing and taking a shower.

But we got the kraft paper skin on all three sections. The middle photo shows a view of one section lying on its back so the skin can dry. We found that the kraft paper ("kraft" is a German word meaning "strong") was much easier to work with than newspaper: it doesn't shred. Maybe we were hastened by the smell, but we got the brown skins on in record time. Now it is time to paint. (Actually, we have already started the painting process, but the rechargeable batteries in my camera have begun to fail. I bought new batteries and have charged them up. Maybe I can take pictures tomorrow.)

I did have one problem when trying to move around the dried sections. These things are fairly light-weight, but extremely clumsy for one person to move around (no wheels on the bottom). While moving one section, I accidentally dropped it on its side and the skin popped off--all in one, molded piece. OK, no problem. In fact it was easier to paint lying flat on the ground. Then we stapled it back in place.

As you can see, the volcano is tall. By the time we get the top on it, the overall height will be about twelve feet. Makes the piano look small, huh? I'm thinking that post-VBS we can just keep it in the chapel as a representation of Mt. Sinai. Glue a little plastic Moses to the side with two little tablets under his arm. The preacher could flip the switch to start an eruption when congregants start nodding off. It'd be cool.

Back in the saddle again

Actually, it is back to monstrous projects again. Do you remember when I built a tomb for the resurrection scene for our church? The tomb has fallen and its skin lies moldering in the yard beside a church building. But I have been requested to build a volcano for Vacation Bible School. A big volcano. A big working volcano. You know what a temptation that was for me. So I have started the project, even took a vacation day to work on it. The idea is that the three triangular prisms all fit together to make a cone. Having the volcano in three sections will make it easier to cover in papier mâché.


The frame for this is 2X4 lumber and metal studs. The skin is chicken wire. Presently the structure is eleven feet tall and about sixteen feet wide at the base. There will be a top section added with all the fireworks. Patience, dear reader, all will be revealed.

Got a new project

Sure, it's an eye, but what kind of eye? It's part of a new project that I have going.

Like I don't have enough to do already. There are still the cabinet doors to finish up for the kitchen. They are cut and ready to glue up, basecoat, sand, paint, paint again, add hinges, and hang, but it is rainy outside today and, besides, I won't have much time before church (the evening service). When I ran out of glue yesterday, I went back to another project that I started with Cat in mind. See, she is a collector of elephants (I could easily do a year's worth of elephant photos), so I drew off a flying elephant for her. Not a "Dumbo" ear-flapping elephant, but one with wings, serene and mystical. We decided to make a wall hanging of it so I enlarged the drawing and sketched it onto a piece of MDF. Then I fired up my trusty scroll saw and cut out the form.

Well, it sat like that for a while. When I sharpened my chisels and started to work on it, I realized that an assist from power tools might be in order. A router helped reduce the thickness of some of the back legs and wings. And a sander got me started on the belly. But what helped most was finding a wood carving set made in Japan. Wow, those blades are sharp!

Here's the way the whole project looks at present (lying on our dead lawn). I am saving the tail for the very end of the carving so I won't break it off. Eventually the wings will be completely detailed, there will be wrinkles here and there, and it will be time to paint. What color do you think a flying elephant should be (NOT pink)? I can't decide between a solid color or the kind of decoration that they use in India with little mirrors glued to it. Or maybe several layers of different colors, then sand it and otherwise distress it for an old, nostalgic look. Hmmmm, what do you think?