More progress on the column for the carousel. I know it seems as if I have been working on this section for a long time. I guess it has been at least three or four weeks that I have been working on this one section. This week I added the last layers of paper mâché.
I did not spend as much time on sanding the inside of the cylinder. Once the carousel is put together, it will not be seen. So, I sanded enough to get it fairly smooth, but there are a few rough spots here and there.
I will blog more on that soon. The good news is that it is ready for that part to be added. The bad news is that I have to wait for my husband to cut that piece. He only wants to do it on a day when he is already working outside. However, I really need to have everything ready before this piece is added. Otherwise, I will be having to take it apart and put it back together again multiple times.
Right not it only has one layer of primer on it. I generally give my pieces two layers of primer. The print slightly shows through on the first layer. If I were using an exterior primer I might have gotten away with one coat. However, I am using an acrylic primer to make sure it works well with the paints I will be using. Maybe that is overkill, but my thinking is if you build it like you wanted to last a hundred years, it just might.
The bottom of the cylinder is not painted. I want to be able to glue that to the wooden platform. At least that is the plan for the moment. I am not sure that is going to be necessary as the piece that will hold the top and middle platforms together will actually be screwed into a center wooden piece.
I have already put the carousel together once (minus the internal column support) to test the revolving mechanism with the platforms. It is not that easy to put together. I will blog more about that when I put the carousel together for the final time.
My husband was a little aggravated that I did not have him cut this wooden piece when I had him cut the platforms. I had to tell him that until all the layers of paper mâché were in place that I did not know what that final measurement was going to be. It is surprising just how much depth six layers of paper mâché will add to the project.
The wooden piece needs to be exactly even with the top and bottom of the cylinder in order for the top platform to sit on it without being wobbly and have no gaps between the cylinder and the top and bottom platforms.
This photo is the underside of the platform where the animals will be mounted. It has had a coat of primer, and this is the first coat of acrylic paint. I decided to start painting here to see just how problematic the painting of the plywood platforms might be. I chose this piece for the underside because it has low spots here and there. Once the carousel is put together, it will not be seen.
In an effort to keep costs down, he was using some leftover scrap plywood from one of his projects. It is not in the greatest shape. Even after sanding it was still pretty rough. The other platform pieces are in better condition.
Anyway, I had to scrub the paint into the plywood. The grain of it did not take the paint well. It gave the platform a very marbled look. I will be giving it a second coat. In a way, I kind of like the marbled look. It reminds me of sun and shade playing across the grass. I will see what happens after the second coat.
I want to get the platform pieces painted before I start on the decoration and painting of the animals. I am glad to be getting to that point. It feels as if I have been working on this forever. In fact, I started on this last June. This is the longest, most difficult project I have ever worked on. I enjoy my time working on my projects, but sometimes it feels like wading through mud. Mostly that is because I want to get to the parts that I really enjoy rather than working on everything that needs to be done that are not as much fun.
Check back next Monday or Tuesday for the next blog post.
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