Faux Tesla Coil Project-Part 14- The Steam Engine

Today's post is going to be short because I have to leave for work soon.  I spent my crafting time this week putting varnish on the completed pieces of the anthropomorphic pumpkin and the folk art cat.  The pieces may look a little shinier than before, but that is about it.  However, this is a necessary step in order to preserve the art work.  Paper mache' can be affected by moisture.  Adding an acrylic varnish will add years to the life of the piece. 

Aside from that, I have been working on the steam engine and the dynamo.  It is still in bits and pieces, but progress is being made.  The first photo shows the pieces covered with tape before layers of paper mache' were applied.  I don't have a new photo of the next step yet.  I have painted a base coat on all of the pieces except the gauges.  The gauges (the small round pieces) need to be sanded before they can be painted.  Once they have been painted, I just have to add all the pieces to the boiler shown below in the second photo.  I don't have a picture of the dynamo yet.

The steam engine and the dynamo are the last two large pieces of the diorama.  After that there are only a few minor details.  Once the engine and dyanamo are complete, I will be ready to put all the pieces on the board.  I'm really looking forward to that.  Sometimes, when a project takes longer to complete than I had anticipated, I begin getting bored with the project.  At that point it takes some willpower to finish the piece.  I have learned from experience that pushing through that feeling of being ready to drop it is just part of the process.  Already the siren song of a new project is calling to me.  Soon I'll be letting my readers in on the details of the new projects.