A Nautilus style modeling room

And so it ends...

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 04:32:00 +0000

Here's the final look. See the first post for what came before.

Final thoughts.

Loads of fun. And I think I managed to hit all the high points of my about me blurb. Offbeat idea. Check. Freaked out wife. Check. Creative outlet and problems to solve. Check. I learned about a lot of stuff I hadn't tried before. How to work with pink insulation, casting and molding parts, woodworking and staining, lighting, flooring, and building/refinishing furniture pieces.

I like how it turned out. Undoubtedly you'd have done things in a different way and that's cool. What I hope to have achieved is this--As kids we always come up with great ideas for the perfect tree-house or go-cart or carnival or haunted house but we never really get them done. We lose interest, don't have the money, or the parents say no. I just wanted to finally finish something cool like that now that I didn't have those constraints any more. This room IS my perfect tree house now.

I say to anyone out there, think it up and DO it. It gives you an immense feeling of connection within yourself and sense of accomplishment when you finish but of course as I have said, its more about learning what you can do and who you are in the process.

Thanks for following along it was a hoot. Get out and do something yourselves to prove to the world you are here and perhaps slightly "off".

And laugh more...

Strange and mysterious Powers

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:57:00 +0000

Here we are nearly at the end of our trip.

A couple of final projects here. I have some touch ups on the paint around the room and some small things to do before we tie up at the pier on Vulcania for some much deserved and exciting leave...

Well as much excitement as you can possibly have at the bottom of a crater. In an extinct volcano. With no women or bars around for thousands of miles...

Anyhow, the gauges are back with a refinement requested, nay DEMANDED, by alert blog reader Jeffry. I added some piping to each of them to simulate some sort of functionality. They look oodles better and it was cheap to boot. Thank you my loyal fan...

See the previous post for how utterly out of place and ugly the functional inside of the paint booth looked. Using some spare rivets I had just lying around, some wood, and a mysterious orb given to me by a Gypsy, I built a removable front for the box. Its like a mini power supply room from like in the movie. Right? Well the Disney people used clear salad bowls and Christmas lights for theirs so this works. Anyhow it turns an unused part of the room into a little slice of Hollywood.

Once the cleanup and last couple of small projects are done I'll post some before and after shots and a round up of the salient highlights and pitfalls of the room as a warning to others.

I'm sure there are TONS of Nautilus bedrooms being made over out there...

Oooh...Check out this video. Pretty.

Nicest paint booth ever!*

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 23:20:00 +0000

*Not necessarily the nicest ever. Don't sue me.

Still its pretty nonetheless. At its heart is a regular old stove top exhaust fan unit where previously I had made a box under it with some thin MDF. It worked fine with a dryer hose run out through a blank board sandwiched in the window. Ugly and functional.

Here we have gone all hoity toity. The exterior is thin plywood glued on to the existing MDF and trimmed out with some wooden craft moldings exactly like those I used on the shelf on the computer desk. Some glue and a little time with the brad nailer and its done. The top has a flap on hinges to provide access to the fan controls and otherwise look pretty, and the bottom is a top-secret hidden compartment with the face being held in place by some stout magnets. I will keep paint, jars, airbrushes, and other stuff hidden in here.

Whats left to do,(when it warms up some), is to run a more permanent and attractive hose up and out through a 4 in. hole to exhaust outside via a standard dryer vent fixture. I am also thinking about something to block off the front of the booth when its not in use, the inside is just so ugly. Hey, I think a 27in. flatscreen would fit nicely in there!

This was the last of the major projects. (Huzzah!) I have a couple of smaller more or less set dressing type projects but I could start modeling in here anytime now if I wanted, but first I'm going to get all the paint dings and shiny screw heads covered while I still have my steam up. I figure once I start working a model then that's it for room work and we can declare the festivities closed.

However, can't get too antsy yet, there's still more to do...

A - Door - A - Bull

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:48:00 +0000

Right then. Here's the finished "door" for your viewing pleasure. Door to all you Land Lubbers out there, but its a "hatch" to us salty sea-going types. This was a living room project, Marsha's favorite. I put up a couple saw horses to work on gluing all the trim parts and rivets in place in the only open space we have inside. When that was finished I still had to wait for a warmish day to spray paint the thing outside.

It was primed a dark grey then given an overall coat of rust. Then I over painted with the final color that matched the porthole mirror I purchased at the USS Razorback museum last summer for just this purpose. Hiya co-tripper Jeffty! Some of the rust color kind of bleeds through giving a more three dimensional look to the finish. I am happy with the result.

The handle is supposed to look a little like a "dog" which is navy talk for the handles around the edge of water-tight doors to seal them tight against the sea or foul weather. Its kind of a neat design in any event.

The final major project, the re-facing of the paint booth and its associated exhaust piping, is well underway and will be operational soon. I am putting in a dryer vent style fitting for the exhaust and I will need a warm day for that since it requires a 4 and a half inch hole in the house. Then its on to final touch ups and details.

Alas..(or Hurray!) The end is near.

Nearly two years at sea...

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:10:00 +0000

February 19th 2008 was the first blog post. Wow time flies.

It looks like we are about to wrap up this little trip under the sea. Just a couple more items to do, but they are fairly busy ones.

Pictured are the gauges I was referring too previously. This was a fun little project that let me use some of my Adobe Photoshop skills. The inclinometer on top is from a real ship somewhere and I bought it last year at a nautical shop in Galveston which has really bounced back from the hurricane by the way. Some Brasso cleaned up the old brass and made it all shiny like. I had the opposite problem with the barometers I used for the other two. They were TOO shiny so I took some light grit sandpaper and a hobby product called "Patina-It" to them to tarnish them up a bit. Now they and the inclinometer look pretty close.

I started on the inside of the door too but I way way over-thought it at first. I tried using thick sheet plastic and silicone adhesive to cover the whole thing and give me a nice flat surface with the intention of hiding the wood grain. It laid out fine but as the glue dried it shrank causing all these bubbles to form (just like my map fiasco earlier). I was able to rip it off and remove the glue with mineral spirits and start over. A couple coats of primer will more than hide that grain I have since concluded. Point is, great ideas don't always work and in fact "great ideas" can end up just being plain stupid upon execution. That said, I still learned from the event and Plan B is working out fine. Not everything works right out the gate.

I have to make more rivets to finish the door. I also have to begin work on the painting booth and its hose that will exhaust outdoors. With a little decent weather, (current temp is 18 with the wind chill), I should make great strides on this in the coming week and THAT my friends will end up being the final big project for the room though there will still be some remaining tweaks here and there before I call it done.

Genuine imitation wood paneling at no extra charge

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 06:35:00 +0000

These are posts are coming quicker now...

Just a quick down and dirty one this time. My workbench is done and as you can see has certainly gotten a makeover from its stark whiteness. The legs are painted the same aged copper as the other "fittings" around the room. The side panels were too. The design is a decorative resin decor thing from Hobby Lobby, and the corner pieces are a couple wood pieces from the Home Depot. Sometimes you just gotta poke around these places fending off the "May I help you"s until something clicks in your head.

The front is some more of our old friends the rivets, and the top... the top is a stroke of genius. (well inspiration maybe) That beat up white top was just something I thought I'd have to live with but then I saw wood grained shelf paper at Wal-E-World and that saved the day. Just a last minute idea but it really will help catch glue and paint spills when I get to modeling again and be very easy to replace when it gets too mucky.

I am working on those brass gauges I mentioned in an earlier post now. I have the inclinometer cleaned up and am preparing fairly passable Engine Order Telegraph, an Seawater Depth gauges to go with it from a couple of surplus barometers. Should be ready in a day or two.

Only two major projects remain. The painting booth that you can see in the background here and the inside of the bedroom door. Thats got to be made to look metal like the walls. How am I going to make that hollow core wood door with all that grain look metal? Stay tuned!

Biggles! Put her in the Comfy Chair!

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:13:00 +0000

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!

It turns out it wasn't the torture I'd feared, but "restored" may be too strong of a word for what I have wrought here. Whatever else you can say about my skills though, it IS a functioning chair again. I have learned that I am neither naturally gifted at upholstery work or that I could ever make a living at it either for that matter.

Originally it was stuffed with grass and horsehair or something but I just went with some seat cushion foam cut to size for the bottom. I used the old seat as a pattern and just cut everything a bit long around the edge. I pulled it tight with clamps and worked around the edge tacking it into place hoping for as few wrinkles as possible.

I used patterns to make the exact and symmetrical shapes for the chair top front and back and tacked them taut around the edges as well. Once I started it got easier as I went along. For the final touch I used some fancy looking upholstery nails and a gold trim around all the edges.

The chair itself is somewhat shorter than the computer desk chair it replaces so a lap keyboard pillow is going to be in order for any kind of typing. All in all though a nice compliment to the room.

I will be starting on my workbench project next. It is getting repainted and disguised a bit but nothing too exotic going on. The weather looks decent for the next couple of days so I should get a lot done. Things are clipping along nicely now.

Is that a light I see at the end of the tunnel?

Steam valves O' light

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:19:00 +0000

While waiting for what I believe will be a no-show satellite dish repairman I fiddled in the room a bit and actually got most of the track lighting project done today.

The track lighting cord has been hidden under this coppery colored cord run. Hopefully it looks a bit like steam piping but it don't look like white power cord which is the point I'm trying to make.

The track lighting just plugs into a wall socket but I wanted a way to turn it on and off, well a COOL way, and decided to use a dimmer switch with what appears to be a steam valve or something on it. Once I figured out where to plug it in making the switch box came next. I just built up around a standard fixture to try to get it looking a little more squarish. Made a lid to match it, lined up the screw holes, and bada-bing, instant steam box thingy. Painting this and the cord runs outside was troublesome in the current arctic conditions but we got there.

The dimmer switch instructions were in every language but Merican so I had to set up a test board and try out different configurations of wires till the light came on. Eureka! After that installation was straightforward and now the overhead floods and the hanging chandelier are both working off these dimmers.

Next up. Probably the chair. Scary scary chair...

A light in da pipe

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 05:37:00 +0000

Hah! I love it when a plan comes together...

I did get held up a bit trying to figure out how to cut the tubes to fit. You see one end is at a 45 degree angle because of the false wall and the all other cuts would need to be straight up and down. What I came up with was a cutting "jig" that I could set to any angle I wanted and would hold the tube still while I sawed it in half. It worked like a champ. Sometimes if you don't already have the right tool, you can make it.

The "pipe" is up there and its working now. I still have a few touch ups here and there. The main one will be covering all those screw holes with some same painted rivets. You can also still see the white from the track lighting unit itself so a little camouflage in the form of some carefully applied paint will be in order once the current blizzard passes. Stupid winter.

The cord and switch will be handled next. The switch will be a dimmer with one of the wheels I cast way back mounted on it. The cord will be in a run painted a brass color. This should be a cool way of turning on those overheads.

But right now I'd like to bring it down a little. Mellow out our groove some. And sincerely wish you all a joyous Christmas and a great New Year! Make it count!

And thanks for the support you have all given me over the years. Peace.

Nook of Armaments, Chapter 2, verses 9-21

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:57:00 +0000

Sorry no Holy Hand Grenades in there...

Christmas season and the weather have slowed down my progress. The track lighting itself is up but the "ventilation" tubing is not since it requires painting. Which requires outside. Which requires good weather. Etc etc.

We turn then to a quick little project to hide my utilitarian looking gun cabinet which certainly does not look the Nautilus part. It is simply a half box made from masonite, a couple long hinges, and some more of the ubiquitous rivets to form a door to hide and give access to the locker. Its been painted the same three part scheme as the surrounding wall and topped with some spare molding. Simple. Boring.

What you WILL see on the face of this thing though down the road is a number of aged looking brass gauges with depth and speed indicator needles and everything. One of the gauges will actually be functional. It is a real working inclinometer that ,when on a ship, shows the degree of roll the vessel has as it moves through the sea. Clearly the house won't be rolling or pitching but still, a neat nautical touch I thought.

Next post-I swear- will be the whole overhead track lighting tableau installed. Its going to be tricky to do but will look O' so cool.

Station the track (light)ing party

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:29:00 +0000

Sub talk..Ha ha

Anyhow, we are back at work in the room. We? Me, myself and and Buddy-Lee. We have spent the last couple of weeks un-halloweening the house and getting parts prepared for the overhead track lighting.

We can't just have a klunky looking track screwed to the ceiling but I need more light for the worktable and the painting booth. So what I am doing is trying to disguise the whole thing as rusty ventilation or seawater piping to blend in and look more subby.

The tube is a concrete form normally used for making patio deck footings and the other aluminum bits are actual home heating ventilation parts. The aluminum bits needed beefed up a bit to look like steel plates instead of the thin flashing they are. I glued on some painted foam core to do just that. The tubes themselves only come in 4 foot sections so I needed the better part of three of them to go across the room. Only the middle one will actually have the lights. Brackets were needed on the ends to hold them up and the far ends will connect to the walls with the beefed up aluminum bits. Hopefully the whole thing when done will look cool and be functional.

Which is what I hope to present in the next episode.
Plus! Where did I put that darn gun cabinet again?

Sir Not-appearing-in-this-Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:21:00 +0000

NARRATOR: A year passed. Winter changed into Spring. Spring changed into Summer. Summer changed back into Winter. And Winter gave Spring and Summer a miss and went straight into Autumn. Until one day...

Winter showed up two days before Halloween with 6 inches of wet snow. Very frustrating after all the effort over the past few weeks. A lot of it has melted but that just means mud and I can't have the kids traipsing through that.

Well, if nothing else I have made a great start on my cemetery entrance pillars and arch for next year. "You just wait Charlie Brown. Next year I am going to find a pumpkin patch that's REAL sincere and wait for the Great Pumpkin!"

Next up I'll be starting back up on the room and the track lighting in particular...

Don't eat PINK snow either...

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:09:00 +0000

Old man winter has come early to Potter--that sumbitch. Nothing gets you in the holiday spirit like eight inches of snow. Problem is wrong holiday! We here at Kisler Manor will endeavor to persevere however...

You will start to get the big idea where I'm headed now with these images. I have routed out some corners and various odd patches here and there on the pillars to a depth of about a quarter inch which creates the illusion of layers in the foam to represent the stucco and the bricks. It also creates a blizzard of pink dust particles even worse than the drywalling mud was earlier with the room. These things have a wicked static cling and they won't just brush off and they track everywhere. Marsha is all smiles about that I can tell you.

Since its a deep freeze in the garage I moved into the living room (more wedded bliss, uhuh) and began laying out the brick pattern in the carved out sections using some brick sized templates and lots of rulers. Next I will carve away the "mortar" areas between the bricks just a little bit for a third layer. This should take the better part of the coming week.

I finished up the half-round trim moldings too. I created a sanding form from a piece of thick cardboard tube and some rough sandpaper glued to the inside. I was able to give them all more or less the same dimensions this way. They'll get glued on later.

By the way these columns are NOT my original idea but a Mr. Juggernaut's that I came upon surfing here: http://usersites.horrorfind.com/home/halloween/juggernaut/projects.html . I have made some changes more to to my liking however.

Upcoming steps will include painting of course and a arch over the top proclaiming
"CIMETIERE TORTUGA" to set the theme of a haunted pirate graveyard.

Right now Santa and some Christmas trees seem more appropriate.

The monolith--times two

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:30:00 +0000

Its hollow--it seems to go on forever--and Oh my God its pink.

The columns are cladded in the pink foam now and just so you have a sense of scale these things are nearly 6 feet tall. Don't ask me where I plan on keeping these things the other 364 days of the year but hey we'll figure that out then--meanwhile its build build build.

The other pink image shows one on its side with what will become foam trim molding pieces in their approximate locations. Each side has three pieces times 8 sides means a lot of these will be needed and that is what I have done this week. Each one is 2 one inch thick pieces glued together. Eventually I will be removing some material off one end to make a half round piece two inches tall to spruce up the columns a bit. That's going to make a ton of pink dust so hopefully I can move out of the garage for that step

The other pics are of an awesome prop I found online and bought. Pretty freakin' creepy huh? Well, I'll be "sea witching" her up a bit to go with the pirates theme better. Seaweed in her hair, and a scary scream maybe. Something like a mermaid ghost spirit I'm thinking.

Digging up stumps will continue next week as will the trimming off of the many face scratching costume grabbing branches. Stay tuned, Mateys

A-pirating we go!

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:20:00 +0000

Once again my house, my yard and my free time have been taken over by an ill tempered pack of pirate skeletons. They loved the joint so much last year they have invited even more of their kind to stir up mayhem and er, skulduggery this Halloween.

What about the Nautilus room I tuned in for you may be asking yourself. Well, I want to work on it but these guys are packing cold steel so I'm just going to do what they say until the first of November when they all depart whence they came for another year.

First off meet the newest addition to the scurvy crew, Drake. I found this guy at Menards and HAD to have him. He is perfect. He speaks three different phrases, and moves. You can even grab a wireless microphone an talk through him while his jaw moves. Real cool. He will be added to the treasure chest set I had last year.

The pink thingys are going to be new cemetery entrance columns and arch. The effect when I am done is going to look like brick that has been stuccoed over but due to age some of that underlying brick has been exposed again. Don't get it? You'll see!

The whole venue minus some yard stuff will be moving into the forest this year. It should really up the creepy factor and I am going for a whole haunted Tortuga cemetery theme. Most of my initial effort will be getting this area ready as there are stumps and branches that need removed and some low areas filled so as to not trip up the TOTs (Trick or Treaters)

I will try to begin posting every Sunday again. Check this!

Dark Side of the Room Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:03:00 +0000

I now have my version of a "salon" window installed. I think it looks pretty neat, especially at night. It is basically an acrylic skylight dome on its side with rivets glued to the flange which was painted a nice rusty color. As noted earlier the whole insert is removable for quick exit in a real life emergency.

I am very pleased to have reached this point as it is the one feature that really sells the room as a submarine to me. There are several small projects left to do before I can declare the room done but I have definitely crossed over the hump.

Coming projects include a painting booth vented to the outside for all season availability, overhead track lighting disguised as ventilation piping, a false wall conceal for my gun cabinet, and a makeover for my drafting table workbench.

This is now the running season and I am prepping and getting ready to attend a couple R/C events this summer so work will be proceeding at a slower pace than usual on the room. I'm not stopping for summer, just slowing to a crawl.

We will just pretend to be stranded in the Sargasso Sea for a few weeks!

No computers in 1870? No problem.

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:28:00 +0000

Well then...sort of a milestone, the computer desk is now done. It took a little figuring but now the computer, the modem, and all the wiring are hidden from view. The shelf it rests on is supported by a rubber caster and though it may not have been strictly necessary I like the idea of the added support. All the wires are coiled up and contained in a pocket behind the door itself and the modems are velcroed to the top of the case so I can see the status lights should the internet start acting wonky like it does from time to time.

But what about the monitor you ask? There were no CRT's or LED,s or plasma displays in Victorian times. You are so right my suddenly astute history buff. Have no fear the monitor will be hidden as well perhaps as an objet d'art as Jules would have said. That's next.

Note the finished plans holder and oh yes and check out the cool magazine holders. Don't they look neat? They are great. If you watch the movie most of the books in Nemo's library are red leather bound so they fit in so nicely and all my modeling magazines will be handy. As another small project I will be hiding my PC speakers on the upper shelf of the storage area and have decided (at some point) to display a 16" inch scale version of the Disney Nautilus submarine on top to kind of sell the whole 20,000 Leagues thing a bit.

I know many many of you base your lives around my room updates so be warned I am going to be slacking off as warm weather approaches. Things like yard work, holidays, family events and vacations are going to be taking up more of my time but never fear I will continue posting--just at a slower pace.

A Desk Job on the Nautilus?

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 23:55:00 +0000

Well the actual desk portion of the desk project is done though "I had a little trouble with the nailgun" as Charlie Brown might say. I wanted to attach some trim to the front edge of the desk to make it look beefier but glue alone wasn't working so I brought up the big guns and decided to use my power nailer. Trouble was it wasn't putting any nails in but making holes that looked like it was and so off pops the trim when I let go . Trying again and making sure I was getting cold hard steel added about double or triple the nail holes to fill which though now kinda disguised may end up bugging me enough for some kind of redo later.

The top bookcase is going smashingly I must say. As you see it its about halfway to done and I will be adding some decorative trim to the unpainted edges you see to give it some interest. I have ordered some magazine holders that look like old books on their backs and they will be stored here holding my treasured collection of SubCommittee Reports and Fine Scale Modelers for quick, ready and disguised reference anytime.

Below will come a platform and false wall to hide all the cords and the computer box but still make it accessible to put media in it and whatnot. When that is done I have to come up with some kind of new look for the monitor itself since it can't be hid per se and it is a very modern contrivance indeed.

Lastly the plain wood box is the beginning of a chart box. Or in this case a ships plans holder. Its laid out to give you and idea of how I will eventually be drilling holes and pushing dowels through to make a grid pattern. The box is a foot deep or so and should hold a rolled up plan ready for access beside my magnetic wall map. It will eventually sport some adornments and the same lovely red mahogany stain as all of the other wood in here. Models courtesy "Lazy Dog Modeling Service" c/o Matilda and Buddy-Lee.

Then that chair...I'm scared to death of that chair. Seatophobia maybe?

Perhaps It won't be that hard to reupholster....later.

Continental Shelfs

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 02:02:00 +0000

This week some littler projects done and a bigger one started.

I have put up two four foot long shelves with the brackets screwed directly into the wall studs. Upon these two will rest my first R/C modeling effort, a Liberty Ship, and my latest an Ohio class submarine of the type I once rode for fun and profit. Neither will fit exactly but I want to get them on display and out of the garage eventually.

The wonderful looking green orb is a tea light I found at Target a couple weeks ago hanging upon a painted hanging plant hook. Eventually it will be wired up and casting a green glow upon demand. Why? I don't know, nothing like it in the movie but its still neat.

Thirdly I have begun installing the built in desk after staining it the same dark mahogany as the chair. Its a very early picture to show the idea and I think you get the drift. Underneath will be storage to hide the computer case and most of the wiring and on top will be a short bookshelf type structure for even more storage most likely SubCommittee Reports and FineScale Modeler magazines I imagine.

The desk will occupy most of the coming week and hopefully I will have some finished looking images for you next time.

Captains Chair

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 02:45:00 +0000

Progress was slow this week due to a busy birthday schedule which included a trip to Joes Crab Shack for a bucket O' crab and a dessert of frozen crepe bananas foster instead of Mr. Lands' "pudding" of sauté of unborn octopus. Delightful!

What I DID acomplish was to take apart that old chair which was full of hundred year old dust, horsehair for cushions and something that looked like dried lawn clippings. Made quite a mess. Fortunately I kept all the fabric to use as templates for cutting new ones and will be substituting modern day cushy foam cut to size for the packing.

It took a couple tries to strip off all the old varnish and another couple coats of stain to get it looking good again. I will give it a further couple coats of glossy polyurethane shortly. When that dries I'll cut the foam and fabric and tack it all back together into what I hope will be a serviceable computer chair.

(NOTE) Everything I have said previously about the computer desk portion of this project please disregard. While I had measured everything correctly and laid it out just so in my mind, I just didn't like the looks of the modified store bought desk next to my storage units so I decided to go for a built-in type thing based loosely on a table I spied in one of the movie stills I refer to as I go through this project. It will be stained to match the wood of the chair and shelves and should look sweet. The computer case and all the cords will be hidden as well.

I'm also excited to have ordered the round skylight to serve as my "salon" window which should look totally awesome when I'm done with it.

Stay tuned sports fans...

Davey Jones' lockers

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:22:00 +0000

Its still Sunday, so I made it. Barely. But look what I got done this week.

The top pieces are now mounted on both these storage units. The thing on the wall is apparently called a "cleat" in the design business. It will serve as an anchor point for the back of the storage unit tops tying them to the wall and shoring up those cool looking shelfs which I made from poplar planks and lengths of galley rail. I REALLY like how they look. The far sides of the surface tops will also sport some of that railing later in the week to kind of tie it all together.

Remember those scrolls from way back? I originally painted them a gold color but Marsha correctly labeled them too "kingly" a color for this room so I went with an aged copper treatment instead which really goes well with the mahogany stain. The posts and scrolly things across the front are removable too so I won't have to work around them when I need a lot of counter space. Just pop 'em out and go.

I'll have to figure it out exactly but I bet I will have twice the counter space in here when I'm done as we have in our kitchen and I think I will actually have an excess of storage for a while too but as I start building models again alot of that will get eaten up.

Next up I have an old school Victorian looking chair I am going to attempt to reupholster. I know...Good Luck! Hopefully it will look good AND be useful and comfortable as the computer chair but I will have an eye to a backup plan should it not work out. Beanbags.

No, not really.

Stowing for sea...Topless style

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 00:02:00 +0000

Quick update as this project is going to take another week to complete fully. I have (with Buddy-Lees's help) constructed two more storage units. Riveted them all around, painted them in a used looking two tone scheme similar to the first and added some cool looking pulls and some uh..decorative thingys. At this point the bottoms are complete but these two units will eventually also be sporting a backboard and a shelf with brackets on the top. Hence they are currently "topless". Hyuk hyuk. --Anyhow, these are mostly in parts form currently but I hope to have the whole package on display for you next post. You'll make sure to come by and take a gander at my magnificent package next Sunday won't you?

Also I have added some more tassels and another pair of curtains to the closet which really look kinda neat doncha think? And note the cool lamp I got on sale. It will be going on my map table later. Neato.

Like a dolt from the blue...

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:32:00 +0000

One of my many failings is a lack of methodology when I approach a task or project. I frontally attack it hoping to channel zeal into some kind of aesthetic artistic impulse. SOMETIMES it works.

Well, remember I said I was done with the painting? Not quite accurate. You see I began work on the computer desk and had a brilliant idea to make the top look like a slab of slightly corroding metal as its shape and original color were quite modern, (Black and chrome). Its the curvy piece pictured. It turned out very good. Too good.

I loved it so much I went back to Lowes bought 4 more cans and spent a week taping and masking and plugging gaps in all the beams across the ceiling. Now they are "done" again as well but sporting the same corroded rusty metal look.

You see..If I'd done some proper research up front on metallic patina paints and various textured sprays before jumping up screaming and charging the pill-box so to speak, I'd have saved a lot of both time and money. Lesson to all you kids out there planning is stoopid and boring but it will save you in the end.

Note the fancy pants heating register there. This was purchased from the fine folks down at Exquisite Brass and Tile http://www.brassandtile.com. It is absolutely perfect thanks Paul! See Exquisite Brass and Tile for all your Nautilus (and every other) rooms' needs. Tell 'em Ned Land sent ya!

Finally you think you have it rough? Look at what the ol' ball and chain gave me for Valentines day. A completely functional iron ball and chain, and yes it fits. Course I hardly noticed after all these years...Ba-dump dump! I'm here all week folks.

Full Metal Racket

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 23:13:00 +0000

"Anything worth doing is worth OVER-doing", a wise man once said...

While not completely done yet the basic painting is now once again "done" in the Nauti-room. The last glaze coat is drying now on the coppery colored walls and I will be adding details when it is dry tomorrow like you can already see on the more golden colored walls such as defining the edges a little better and adding some color splotches randomly about where I feel fanciful.

Each wall required three colors, a basecoat, a metal glaze and a top glaze to tone down the metallic sheen some. The bottom coat was applied in a solid manner with a regular foam roller. The metal was dabbed on in stabbing motions with a beat up old two inch hand brush. The resulting more or less random spots were beat down and smoothed in with the stippling brush shown here with a light pounding. This process took several hours and the pound pound pound went on late into the night. Luckily Marsha zonks out pretty solidly and only vaguely remembers hearing any of it. I think it would have drove me crazy like the Tell-Tale Heart or something.

The third coat was applied with a textured roller that left gaps in the paint it laid down as it went letting the previous colors show through in places. This layer too was lightly pounded. I think I got my 25 bucks out of that brush and it held up quite well.

I'm in much happier place with it now. It totally looks metallic and beat up at the same time. I can almost hear far away engine and machinery noises.

It is now time to work on some more of those storage units and the track lighting but first the computer has to come back in so a computer desk project is up next. How do you make a store bought computer desk look like it belongs on a sub? Not the foggiest...but I have some ideas. Check in later!

Five Thousand Words

noreply@blogger.com (BoomerFunker) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 06:35:00 +0000

Short and sweet, mostly pictures.

I am busy repainting the entire thing. I have discovered something called "metallic glaze" and "Stippling" Two new 3 part wall colors are going in and there is definitely more visual interest.

The other pictures are the conversion of one of the storage units. Its not Nauticalized completely yet but it shows where its headed.

Big blog post when the paints done this weekend.