I assembled the nose cones with screws and PB Bond 240 - a one part glue from Coastal Enterprises. It is activated with a spritz of water and tends to expand some as it cures. this meant I would have to do a little cleanup and shaping with mu die grinder but this was no problem as I intended to cover the nose cones with some Abracadabra Sculpt to add some details.
The covering on the nose cones as well as the hand crafted cables around the balloon instantly took away from the machine made look - just what I wanted. the balloon now matched the gondola underneath.
Once the epoxy sculpting medium had cured to was time to apply a coat of FSC-88 WB primer. This primer is heavy bodies water base primer from Coastal Enterprises. I applied it by hand with a small brush to introduce a little more texture over the entire surface.
And once the primer had cured it was time to start in on some color. I'll be using all acrylic paints as per our norm. The metallics are from Modern Masters and look great - even on the first coat. Everything will get a second cot and then I'll start in on the glazes to add depth and some aging. It makes me giggle when I see it in the shop. It is going to look pretty cool against our blue ceiling in the studio library.
Stay tuned for more progress.
-dan
