Photo #359

Thank goodness it's Friday! Now that I'm back to work full time, that phrase has meaning again! I've had a busy week doing prep work on the exterior of the old CPR Steamship Terminal building. Here are a few photos to give you a glimpse into any given day at work for me...

My "office". Four storeys of scaffolding along the front of the building which is also wrapped in tarps to minimize dust and paint chips falling onto the street below.

Chipping the old paint off the decorative concrete mouldings is not unlike peeling the shell off a hard boiled egg. A little tap with my knife and peel off the flakes. We're not going to completely strip them. We only want to remove the loose paint and prep the bare concrete for painting, repairing where needed.

This is one of several faces found on each corner of the building. I'm not sure if it's Poseidon or Neptune. This one has been prepped and primed  by my coworkers and is ready for painting.

And finally, here's what the interior currently looks like. We're not painting in here, but I just wanted to give you a look.

 

In spite of the daunting amount of work that needs to be done, I kind of like being able to say I've had a hand in restoring a Victoria landmark.

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Photo #355

Being a painter and not having a car can be a bit of a hassle sometimes. Like with any trade, sometimes there can be a lot of tools or safety gear (and let's not forget my lunch) that I may have to bring to a job site, depending on the scope of work. Thankfully Victoria is a small enough city to easily get around by bicycle, bus or on foot. Most of the time I can manage by carrying my most basic tools (brushes, knives, scrapers, etc) and my lunch in an average backpack, but sometimes I need a lot more. Rain gear, hardhat, safety vest, caulking gun, respirator, and so on. Thank goodness the company I work for brings the ladders and heavy equipment to the sites.

So, for those big jobs, I finally went out and bought a bigger bag...

It's actually a rolling duffel. A little handle slides up from the top so I can roll it along like airline luggage. Or, if I can't roll it, I can carry it horizontally like a regular duffel. I even got it on sale for 50% off! My coworkers bet I could carry a 5 gallon paint pail in this thing!

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Photo #348

Two job sites in one photo. The blue building on the far left is Orchard House, where I worked last year. The sandstone coloured building on the right with the Roman style columns is the old Canadian Pacific Steamship building, more recently known as the Wax Museum, where I'll start working on Tuesday. In the middle is BC's Legislature building. I haven't worked there. I'm not sure any work gets done there. *ahem*

Photo taken by me in 2007. It's the only one I have that clearly shows the Wax Museum.

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Photo #299

Dusting off the old tools and heading back to work tonight...

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Photo # 290

In my downtime this week I've started working on the Titanic's hull. In this shot I've flipped the hull upside down and just finished priming the bottom (below the waterline) in grey. The primer is what's going to make the red hull paint look awesome...

The bow is at the lower right.

The rest of the parts are all painted and built into sections just waiting for final assembly. My table becomes a virtual shipyard some days, but I always have things tidied up before Megan gets home! I'm not going to post any more progress updates from this point since I'm so close to completion. You'll see the finished ship soon. :)

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Photo #279

It's been a little while since I've shown an update on the model of the Titanic that I'm building, so here's a shot I took this afternoon looking from bow to stern along the upper decks. I slid the top deck over to show you all the little walls and panels I just installed inside along the Promenade deck...

I'm still a long way from being finished! There are a lot of little parts left to install, and I still haven't started priming and painting the lower half of the ship! I'm really taking my time with this model. I'm not going for museum quality, but I want this ship to look as nice as possible sitting up on my shelf.

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Photo #256

More small parts. The primed propeller shafts get their first coat of Hull Red (which looks orange in this photo, but trust me it's a nice rusty red). Look close and you can also see the edges of the bronze propellers (or screws) at the top edge of the photo...

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Photo #246

Part D-43 (Docking bridge) painted and ready for installation...

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Photo #227

I've reached the time of year when I find myself working less and less which has freed up a lot of time for me to try to get back into an old hobby of mine...

I haven't built any models since I was probably about 15 years old, but sometime back before I moved into my new home, I got into a conversation with a good friend of mine about how cool it would look to have a couple of really nice ships on the shelves in my den. Nothing too crazy, but just a couple of tasteful models of real ships to fill some spaces among my books and guitar stuff. Turns out, my friend is an avid builder so he thoughtfully bought me a highly detailed model of the RMS Titanic as a housewarming gift.

The box has been sitting unopened on my shelf for a couple of months now, but this week I went and bought some supplies like paint and brushes and such and I've decided to give it a go. I'm hoping that the patience I've gained in my old age, and the skills I've acquired as a professional painter for the past few years, will produce a beautiful model worthy of display. Wish me luck!

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Photo #201

The view from my "desk" at work...

That's my safety line on the left and the swing stage's power cable on the right.

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Photo #187

This is where I spent my day...

How was your Monday?

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Photo # 180

A great perspective along the starboard side of the ship. The building I was working on today is the blue high rise in the background....

(Colour and contrast were enhanced.)

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Photo #152

The finished cabinet. Okay not entirely finished. When I was putting it back together, Megan pointed out that I didn't paint the little door knob - which was kept in a small bag with the rest of the little screws and pins. It's still drying out on the balcony at press time and will be attached to the door when I mount the cabinet onto the bathroom wall tomorrow.

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Photo #151

Tonight, I gave an old cabinet new life...

It used to be blue.

Tomorrow the finished product.

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Photo #147

A peek at where I've been working this week...

This is looking into the liquor store from the back room. I've been given the task of painting the entire store one section at a time while renovations are taking place. The tricky part? The store is open during renovations.

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Photo #141

Like I said yesterday, I keep my equipment and work area tidy!

Of course I don't mean any disrespect to my co-painters. I just find the job goes smoother when things are clean and organized. And if my boss sees this or the previous photo, I took them during designated breaks.

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Photo # 140

When I use the paint sprayer, I'm much more tidy than my co-painters...

Tomorrow, I'll show you how I set up the sprayer.

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Photo #133

The view from my "office" today...

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Photo #132

As a painter, I've been called upon to paint a variety of surfaces, including my wife's pretty little toenails...

Her colour for this summer: Deep Purple.

I used the camera's colour accent function to isolate the purple.

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Photo #115

I spent my Saturday afternoon putting up shelving in the utility room as well as organizing all of our tools and some of my painting gear. It took two attempts to put up those shelves because I had issues with the drywall anchors, but in the end it all came together nicely...

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