Sorry I have not been around.

I took on an additional project and then worked myself sick over it. At the writing of this post – I am just starting to feel normal.

So, here was the idea… Last year, I was approached by the leadership team of Apple Automotive and asked to build a prototype body of a male construction worker that would “sit” on top of a billboard.

** Click here to see that project **

Although the project turned out perfect, they felt him just sitting wouldn’t draw enough attention… Which left a sitting prototype sitting in my back yard all winter.

But I was approached again recently because apparently no one else would touch this project with a ten foot pole… Now they want the guy to be standing on the top edge of the billboard. This not only would get more attention, but would require a lot of additional engineering to make sure the project would be able to hold up to the enormous amount of force the wind will subject it to.

I contracted Mark Koppenhaver to build the frame, and then covered the frame with foam and cards the body from there. I’d share pictures… But as I mentioned, I felt so pressured to get this done, I was working till 10:30 at night in the dark trying to get this done.

I don’t believe it was the cold that made me sick… It was the stress I put myself through that wears me down. Long story short … I had 5 days with a fever of 101 and ended up not having a good nights sleep for a week… Which makes life feel like a bad acid trip.

Anyhow… That behind me… Here’s billboard guy V2.0….

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After re sculpting the body form, we decided to make a mold so that future models can be easily duplicated. I was given a tip by my friend Pete on an easy way to make fiberglass body forms. The first step was to cover the entire project in aluminum foil... (The black string is because it was a windy day and kept blowing off!)

Next step was a few layers of fiberglass and a gallon and a half of fiberglass resin. Here's a tip: When working with fiberglass resin, working in a shaded area give you more time before the resin sets. If you want to speed things up... move it out into the sun. The ultraviolet rays speed up the curing process ten fold.

Here's the test fit of the clothing before we repainted it... and the body form in the background. Note: I know you can see the fiberglass part of his arm sticking out, so we decided to paint that too....

And here he is all done! I am glad this little side trip is over with, but glad I did it. I am excited to see it up on a billboard, and even more excited to see if the township lets us keep it up there! Anyone want to place bets?

I am curious to see if they put this in place.

Well, that’s all for now. Some bragging…. Some bitchin…. Some exhaustion.

There’s more sinister shadows project info to come in the new few days…. But I try to stay away from my important stuff unless I’m feeling 100% into it.

Goodnight all….