Understood. When you're ready...

Picked up the cremation tuesday. Needs cleaned up a bit. As soon as I get caught up in the shop will put it together and get some pics. Came with a bag of other stuff, skulls, bones etc... Also looks like a homemade zombie skull complete with gimmick. There is also a skeleton that is attached to bent tubing. Tabby, do you remember what this was for? Did Kozak do some black art effects with this?
Ray

After the fire marshall in the burgh told us we had to hire two firemen to monitor our use of fire we went to confetti. We thought it amounted to a shake down. That skeleton became something we carried in at the beginning of the show. We never figgered out everything that came with it and never saw Barclay Shaw's show so don't know how he used it either. Maybe a photo would jog my memory. It was a long time ago.

Michael, Love the tables! Thanks for posting the pictures.

Nice job on the tables, do they fold up?

Oh, yeah. The tops pin hinge on, and the side by side skeletons fold together. The fold up design is not a lot different than the table shown in Mark Wilson's book. I just don't have all the framing strips inside, the extra shelf, or the hook and eye fasteners. Don't need 'em.

Nice job Michael
for stencils I generaly have the design cut from sign vinyl and applied at the shop. not as intense but ot works for me.

Do you use the vinyl as a stencil to paint upon, or as the final aplication?

Michael, have you been watching television? We have an ad running about the new 'Frog' tape on the market, give perfect edges when painting, no bleed under the tape.

Funny thing is the ad says it has a special formula, and then goes on to show glass with slush powder in it and how it solidified. I thought that was funny.

I have seen the FRog Tape ads. It's available locally. I have not tried it for any of my work, though.

I tried the green frog tape and was not impressed - I think it does not live up to the hype.

Ron

Because of the ways Frog tape is used in the ads, I'm guessing it is probably ok for home interior painting (i.e., latex wall paints). I use the delicate surface blue painters' tape (not the regular blue), and the only times I have had bleed under, is if I am not vigilant about sealing down the edges, especially at corners where two pieces of tape overlap, and even then, it is usually only if I spray too heavy a coat.

The Frog tape, or in fact most masking tapes could probably be used to make a well-sealed stencil, but they would be a one application use (similar to frisket film).

The main problem I had with the stencil I used for the skeletons was the fact that it was made from several pieces of card stock taped together to form the one large image, prior to cutting. It is very difficult to do this without getting even the slightest buckling throughout. Had the image first been printed on one large piece of paper (or vinyl, or whatever), and then the stencil cut, this would not have been a problem.

The complexity of the stencil meant that even with much care sealing down the edges, there were random spots that would pop loose before the entire stencil could be sprayed. The stencil adhesive is not nearly as aggressive as other spray adhesives. Stencil adhesive works very much like a Post-it note, releasing very cleanly, but the downside is, it doesn't take much force to cause an area to lift.

Adhesives like 3M 77, etc. are very aggressive, even with very light coats. They have tendencies to transfer residue to the surfaces they are applied to, even after a long dry time.

Additionally, the plywood used was not exactly the same stuff I make my products from. It was the left-overs from a sheet of construction grade plywood that had one sanded surface. I did go over the face with a grain filler, and then sanded it all, so it isn't a horrible surface to work on, but not perfectly glass-like either. The tables were given a base coat of brush-on flat black oil enamel (both sides, the faces lightly sanded, and then given a coat of clear gloss enamel before the stencils were applied.

Ironically, the tops are made from expensive Baltic Birch, but are covered over with felt.

Rather than start a whole new thread just to post one photo, I figured I would drag up one of my old ones to post and share this photo of a Square Circle I finished the other day. I've had a small stash of vintage Meyercord decals, and this is the first time I have used any of them. Figured I'd try something different.

Interesting about the Meyercord Decals. When I went to Saigon with the USO in 1970, we stayed at the Meyercord BOQ. The Meyercord was named, I understand, for a French soldier who had died in the line of duty. Are the decals French???

Your prop is beautiful, BTW. I love seeing the pictures. Thanks for posting it.

The package envelope gives the address as Chicago, but where the company name came from, I don't know.

Yes, I found some really great Chinese Decals at a old hardware store in the city. But like all hardware stores they have changed hands. I went back to buy some more years ago and all the decals were gone.

My decal plastic envelope says, "the Meyercord co., 365 E. North Avenue, Carol Stream, (Wheaton)Ill. 60187

Did a quick search and the company is listed but no web site that I can find. They were selling a project Booklet for 10 cents in the envelope that I have. That price sounds like it came from the 1950's.

Think a telepone call would find better infor then the internet. Seems they make the tax decals you find on cigarettes packs as well.

Doesn't look like they make decals anymore, they are not a part of several companies that do different services.

Yeah, I think sticking decals on different things was more popular in the 50's and early 60's. Much of the Meyercord artwork is reminiscent of that era and style, and many were made with kitchen decor in mind.

A look on Ebay will reveal a lot of the vintage packages. I'd imagine at one time, they were available by the thousands for so many unused ones to still be available. The packs I have show printed prices from 10 cents to 39 cents.

I recently got a good deal on several packs of full color oriental Meyercord decals, although they are slightly cartoonish, and not as fine art status as Okito's decals. Still, I'm sure I'll find an appropriate use for them someday.

I don't think the light off color of the decal will matter much when applied to painted surfaces. And it should blend in very well with vanish on natural wood.

My decal of chines people on and walk bridge only cost 98 cents in 1983.

There must be a someone still making them as Norm Nielsen uses them a lot on his wood items. If he is just coping drawings, then there must be a way to make decal at home, so decal paper must be available someplace that is printable. I don't think Norm Nielsen hand paints all those props, as he calls them decals.

You're kidding, right??

Well, they now make ink that can withstand water. The industry is constantly changing.

So, where is Norm Nielsen getting his decals? I find I hard to believe he is using decals over 60 years old.