Category Archives: Weird & Wonderful

rocket

Unveiling of UK’s Biggest Ever Rocket Ship

Starchaser’s unmanned capsule will be ejected mid-air and is designed to land safely by parachute.

Courtesy of Wessex Resins & Adhesives LTD

A Salford University academic with ambitious plans to send tourists into space by 2013 unveiled the UK’s largest-ever space rocket on Tuesday, July 1, 2008. The project, sponsored in part by WEST SYSTEM UK Distributor, Wessex Resins &Adhesives Ltd., used WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy in the rocket casing and for fairing the body. Steve Bennett, who heads the University’s Space Technology Laboratory, presented his 58′ Nova 2 rocket at the University and discussed how his company, Starchaser Industries Ltd. (Starchaser) plans to launch it next year with the help of school children from across the UK. Continue reading →

Summer in the City

The MOMA Beatfuse project

All of the seams on the MOMA Beatfuse pool bottom were sealed using 3″ cloth tape and three coats of epoxy.

by Jerry Briggs

Each year The Museum of Modern Art and P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center conducts what is known as the P.S.1 / MOMA Young Architects Program. The competitors vie for the opportunity to build a temporary architectural project in the 17,000 square foot outdoor galleries of P.S.1 in Queens, New York. The structure serves as a venue for the popular outdoor music series, “Warm Up” which runs from June through September each year and boasts attendance in excess of 100,000 visitors per season. Continue reading →

Building an Ecosystem for Salmon

Salmon growing up in a custom-built progressive ecosystem, ready for release.

By Ken Filipiak

The science teacher at the school where my wife works (West Ottawa Macatawa Bay School in Holland, Michigan) called me for help with his leaking aquarium which had flooded his classroom. This was no ordinary aquarium; it was one he had custom-built to show a progressive ecosystem—a brook to a stream to a pond for raising salmon. Continue reading →

Colorful kitty by artist Christopher Tully.

Artist Christopher Tully

by Mike Barker

Above: A colorful clay relief kitty by Christopher Tully.

Artist Christopher Tully does two unusual things with epoxy in his work. He creates large clay relief scenes with lots of detail made up of many tiles. After they are bisque fired he brushes on epoxy and heats them with a torch so the epoxy penetrates deeply into the porous clay. This creates an extremely strong surface that still has great detail. He then applies a primer and paints it with acrylics and a clear coat. Continue reading →

Scale Ferrari

Building a Grandson’s Formula 1 Ferrari

By John White of Fife, Scotland

When the first grandson arrives, any grandfather knows he now has the chance to fulfill the dreams he had as a boy. A Formula 1 racing car would do for starters. A small model purchased for £4 was the starting point. The car will be ready for his third birthday so plenty of time (or so I thought). Continue reading →

Big Bicuspid

Signmaker Bill Boudreau of Maria, Quebec, uses WEST SYSTEM® epoxy to build conventional laminated cedar signs, as well as rather unconventional signs like the big bicuspid. He also uses epoxy for projects that go beyond conventional signmaking—like this 15 ½’ guitar and an 8′ tall tooth.

The monster molar was built of wood, chicken wire, insulating foam, fiberglass, and epoxy. It’s finished with polyurethane paint and has held up very well under conditions of extreme cold and a salty environment.

Continue reading →

Cosmic Muffin awaiting passengers at her berth in Ft. Lauderdale, FL

The Three Lives of Cosmic Muffin

by Jennifer Jones

Cosmic Muffin, a unique houseboat owned by Dave Drimmer, has quite an interesting history. She started out as a Boeing 307 Stratoliner, which was acquired by Howard Hughes in 1939 when he bought TWA. The Model 307 was the world’s first high-altitude commercial transport and the first four-engine airliner in scheduled domestic service.  In 1948, Hughes had her interior redesigned, named her Flying Penthouse, and she became one of the first commercial airliners converted into a plush executive transport. Continue reading →

Repairing Sparty, an Historic Statue

by Mike Barker

Above: While repairing Sparty, ceramicist Curt LaCross applies his custom matching epoxy coating.

For over fifty years, “Sparty” has been a familiar figure on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. The Spartan statue was built in 1945 and, at 11′ tall and 3000 lb, it is believed to be the world’s largest freestanding ceramic sculpture. Sparty has survived many an attack by vandals, but it is no match for Michigan winters. Continue reading →