12/15/01-- This project now comes full circle, back to where it started a month and a half ago... wet dreams & all. Gawd, I love it when stuff resolves like that. On a deeper plane, this project has been as much a story of unabashed consumerism as it has been about building the Jimbob Hardsuit. That's really not something to be proud of, but we animals do what we're driven to do, spiritual implications aside. Buddha would probably frown. Therefore, because calling this "Jimbob's Hardsuit" would get confusing if I made another one, I've decided to call this hardsuit "Bodhisattva" after the song by Steely Dan (The song's got a hot guitar solo). Or "Buddhabot", for short. Hey--You don't have to pay for this K-Mart spiritualism, so stop groaning!

This first stage of weathering --dirt & rust-- could have taken much longer if I'd stuck to my plan to be subtle and finicky about it. About midway, I got impatient. I'd been at it for hours and wanted to put the suit back together for a size comparison with the newly arrived SAFS. (See? It really is evil!) So I became less picky about it and began to process two pieces at a time. That's like shifting into assembly line mode where you work by a formula rather than considering each unique piece. This pic shows the exaggerated, quickie weathering job. The dirt streaks and rust stains are less well blended, with some visible edges. Mainly though, there's just a lot more rust-- too much maybe? Buddhabot looks kinda like he just walked out of a junkyard. It's not a big deal since you can tone it down-- it's just thin paint which can be worked out with a Q-tip. It can also be airbrushed with a translucent wash which in theory, tones it down. Ooops? Before this weathering step, I think it's traditional to do the decals over a smooth clear coat. I agonized over this for a while. Yes, it would be kewl to make custom decals, but that could have easily added a week or more to the project. (Did I mention how tired I am of working on this?) Maybe someday... In the meantime, I added a few generic-looking warning decals here & there, taken from my collection of old model decals. They seemed to go on okay over the flat coat. I painted 'em with a thin wash of off-white to make them look a little faded and more blended. Eventually, when I'm ready to call it quits, I'll mist it with Dullcote again (...if I remember to). Okie Dokey. Once all the pieces had been weathered, I began reassembly. I was surprised at how long it took to reassemble (about an hour) -- stripping it down didn't take anywhere near as long. (Most of that time was spent trying to find and align screwholes and engage the tiny 00-90 nuts before they slipped and disappeared into the carpet.) The reward for the ordeal was that I could finally stand my own Buddhabot next to its inspiration, the (loose fitted) SAFS grail piece and see how they looked together... Yowza! Keeeewl! Hey, I need to get five or six more of these...

12/16/01-- Here's an idea suggested by John of NY-- raised lettering on the cast hull. He suggested cutting the lettering off of model sprues and attaching them with liquid cement. I couldn't get past the first part of that though, even with a new Exacto blade-- the numbers either got maimed or curled up into a formless shaving. So I ended up sculpting them on. That's why there are so few numbers, with no repeats, and why I picked the easiest numbers (with no closed loops). To strengthen the bond and blend them into the hull, a coating of the epoxy putty paste was applied over the top. I hastily painted this with a mismatched acrylic tint-- (paint's still wet too) because of the placement, it should be easy to use the Krylon on that area and blend it in with the weathering. Did you know that there are an infinite number of shades of white? And that they all look about the same in isolation? And that they look different in different light? It boggles the mind...

12/17/01--Custom Decal: It's not original artwork, but how could I resist? It's good to see that CooP's work endures well into the 29th century. Just to put your mind at ease, absolutely no Freudian symbolism is intended by the placement of the decal above the nozzle insertion orifice hatch! Jeez...

Field testing the "Toothpaste" method of SAFS pilot extraction