Comic Strip Bus
This project is a bus featured in the syndicated comic strip Gordo which ran for over forty years. Gordo was a Mexican bean farmer who bought an old bus and began ferrying tourists around the interior of Mexico. The bus was a crazy thing with a bulbous body and a way-too-high back window and spare tire. Gordo's bus evolved somewhat over the years and it became necessary to decide just which version of it to build. This was a challenging project because the client was a toy designer and the owner of two of the finest custom cars we've ever seen. Top quality work was expected. The photos show something of the process as well as the result. Gordo fueled his bus with Muscatel, which he referred to in the strip as grape juice. Naturally it had a wine cask fuel tank, visible under the bus in the last photo. Mexican jitney buses were commonly named after celestial bodies, hence the name El Cometa Halley.
Fabrication of Part for Antique Gambling Wheel
A client approached us about making a missing housing for the odds device situated on top of an antique gambling wheel. The housing had to be fabricated, painted, then aged to match the patina of the wheel. The photos show the result.
Antique toy modification
We were recently asked by a client to modify a vintage pressed steel toy 1932 Cor Cor Graham sedan into a coupe. We happily accepted the challenge and here's the result.
Vintage Industrial Air Compressors |
A client recently approached us about making a replica of a vintage Ingersoll-Rand industrial air compressor to display with antique Buddy L toys. Using photos from an old brochure, here is the result. Later we were commissioned by the same person to create the 1930s Japanese air compressor seen in the second row of photos.
Cool Cremation Urn
A long-time friend and client sent us pictures of a 1950s moving van he had seen parked in front of a moving company in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He asked if we could make a small version of it for him. After he got the 20 inch long finished piece he proudly announced that his ashes will be placed in the van when he leaves this life. We've never received a finer compliment.
Airplane Hangar
The owner of one of our Spirit of St. Louis airplanes requested that we build a Ryan Aviation hangar to be displayed with the plane. To save room we made it so it would hang on a wall.
The Biggest Metal Sculpture
From 2016 through 2019 Brian & Marlene Cowdery were actively engaged in designing and building their new home. This was a hands-on project, with concrete work, granite countertops, and HVAC the only things done by outside contractors. Naturally, the exterior of the building is completely covered with metal. The interior also features extensive use of metal for ceilings, window trim, baseboard, and as cladding on posts and beams.
Riley Art Glass from Hot Springs, Arkansas installed a spectacular chandelier early in 2019
Most of the art in the house is local - Paintings by Dolores Justus, Linda Palmer, Alison Parsons, Richard Stephens, Doyle Young, Carole Katchen, Patrick Cunningham, Sammy Peters, Daisy McDonald, Randall Good, Polly Cook, Steve Johnson, Wyatt Russell, Phil Chwalinski, and others. Glass pieces by Riley Art Glass, Wood sculpture by Robyn Horn, Gene Sparling, and Roy Kinnaird. Metal sculpture by Wayne Summerhill, Carole Katchen, David Harris, Bre Harris, and Brett Anderson. Ceramics by Michael Ashley, Fletcher Larkin, Marlene Cowdery, Helga Huber, Polly Cook, and Norma Griffin.
Master suite shower is clad with sheets of orange aluminum typically used to build race car bodies.