Hello everyone on this special day. just think, if it wasn't for mama, we wouldn't all be here chatting about the stuff we love. Thanks Mom!
Well despite having to wait hand and foot on all the moms of the world, I did get some hobby time in. Today's festivities began with further work on the radio cabinet. It was back to Photo Shop to see if I can figure out how to get the pictures small enough to fit into the cabinet. After getting the size right, I put them together and started messing around with the controls to see if I can sharpen them up and make them print nicely. Weeeeelllll, the results are ok, I think. I'd like to have better sharpness, but I'm not a Photo Shop expert. So here are the pictures, three different ways...
I'd call it legible, but I'm thinking under some of the expert photography I've seen, it won't hold up, but to the naked eye, especially my old worn out eye, it'll do. So I cut them out and stuck them in to see how they look. Think I'll go with it...
So moving forward, it was time to start finishing the cabinet with a coat of paint. Not thinking ahead, I didn't have any place to hold it during painting so I messed up the bottom shelf. I'll repaint it when the others dry.
Next, I thought I'd start playing with the plywood decals to see how they'd look. Honestly, I'm not too happy. My base coat is too dark. I want the plywood to retain the original color of the decals as they are on the sheet. It just didn't occur to me that the sheet's color is white, so with a tan background, most of the grain detail is rather hidden, and the whole thing looks too dark.
Even with the dark framing over it there's little or no contrast and the panels look dull.
I'm going to do it over with a white background for sure. Naturally I couldn't make that decision before masking the framework in the back. I'll have to rip out the tape to repaint I'll be wearing my dunce cap the rest of the day.
To make up a little for this goof I hit the bottom of the hull with a black wash in an effort to actually move forward with the build, rather than just creating more work for myself. It's going to be a big masking job to repaint all the tan, white.
So guys, let me know if you'd like a copy of the final radio picture file. I have it in JPG and PSD for you Photo Shop types. Just send me an email address and I'll pop it right over to you. You should be able to print it right out or take it over to the pros who likely have a much better printer.
Take care and don't forget to tell mama how awesome she is on her special day.
