The shield buildup is nearly finished.
Just a couple more things to be done, including the second color for one of the signs, brush painting all the bolts (both sides, two or more coats), finishing the leather strap for the canvas bag holder, and finishing the brackets for the slide rule and canvas cover. Now that i think about it, there's quite a bit more to do, damn it! At least I got all the brackets and instruments installed on the lower shield.
As usual, I started to run out of daylight before I got around to installing the upper shield, so I thought I better not attempt it today. It's not a job I can rush, and it will be a two person job, so it can wait until next weekend.
Had an interesting time with this 9th Division sign, when I did the black background on Friday afternoon. I have a thing for symmetry, so alignment is important. I used a large carpenters square to get the position correct, then applied tabs of low tack tape to mark where the edges would be. Alas, at some stage the square had moved between applying two pieces of the aligning masking tape. Not realising this, everything I did from that point on was WRONG! This was only confirmed after the paint was applied and all the masking materials removed. I couldn't believe how such a stupid mistake could be made. I always recheck alignment again after final position is marked......except that one occasion. As a resuly, I had to wait for the paint to dry, rub back all the edges, then remask (after measuring multiple times) and repaint again, slightly larger this time. The platypus and boomerang in white, were very much easier. It's not perfect, but I chose to go with higher detail of the design, which meant the lines were not quite as 'clean' as would have been if I accepted image with less detail. I can live with that. The platypus would have lost his facial detail if I smoothed the image any further!
Still looking for an illuminating apparatus box! Anything considered!!!! Seriously.
The space where the box should be, just looks so bare without that piece in place.
Also, I have another, more exciting, piece of news to tell. I don't think I'll go into that until I can take and upload photos at same time. Sorry!
