December 1999



This month's winner is Robert E. Salyers, a.k.a "Airbrush Bobby"
of Clearwater, Florida.
I felt this work would be fitting for the Christmas season.
Thanks Bobby for the fantastic work!

We here at "Sign of the Month" wish everyone  Happy Holidays!

Mark Fair
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The Artist's Comments...


Hi there Mark! Thank you very much for the compliments! You can use that for
the sign of the month if you wish. I do plan to attend your meet in
December. God willing, my schedule slows by then.
  I'm finishing a project at this moment for Nordstroms. I SHOULD even be
working today!!!(Thanksgiving) The Nutcrackers were for a place in New York
called Golphers green. I started studying styro carving a couple years ago
when I did a theme resturant in Tampa airport. If you can sculpt or carve,
you can sure do styrofoam. I get styrofoam from a large
construction/insulation company. Styrofoam comes in many types and sizes and
cuts easily. In most cases an image is made on one face of the styro
block(in this Nutcracker case the block was 4'x4'x8') Next, the shape is cut
using a hot wire. The hot wire is kind of like a big coping saw with a wire
as a blade. Electricity passes from one end thru the wire and out the other,
causing a temperature high enough to cut the foam. Old timers in the past
have made these at their shops using a typical household dimmer switch and a
large loop of wire to cut foam. The rest of the model is carved away using
one of those retractible razorblades you find at any Hardware store. I use
the kind you can break away when it gets dull. I extend the whole blade out
creating a large razor knife. The final shaping is done with a typical hard
wire brush, then sanded smooth. Multiple foam pieces can be attached using
rods, glue, epoxy or whatever does the trick. Next is the hard coating. Hard
coating years ago was just applying a glue to the outside to protect the
foam. One old timer I know used to spray Elmers glue to his sculptures then
primed and painted with interior or exterior paints. Hard coating now is
pretty advanced and costly. A decent hardcoating system has a two part
compound and can go for around $20K and the 2, 55 gallon drums of product
can cost almost $3K for the two.

  I wish all of you a very happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful that my family
has put up with my working hours up to this point and I know I'll have to
make it up to everyone!
Take Care!
Bobby
Robert E. Salyers Artistry
Clearwater, Florida

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Past Winners
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About the Judges
.
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 Mark Fair
.
If you would like to enter your sign for "Sign of the Month",
 simply e-mail Mark Fair Signs
attach a .jpeg or .gif image  to your e-mail document.

We accept all types of signage.
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Just because I don't select your sign as "Sign of the Month"
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Try again.

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12/22/98

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