Interview with Kern Mattei of the Mai Kai - General Tiki

B Benzart Member Port Saint Lucie, Florida Joined: Jan 09, 2004 Posts: 10397	B Benzart Posted posted on Sat, Sep 1, 2007 6:30 PM Yeah, Will deserves a Lot of credit for unearthing these molds and learning how to get quality casts from them. I Know for a fact that he had a difficult time in the beginning trying to figure out the best method to use to get the proper tiki out of the mold without it crumbling. HE put many hours into it and all with NO financial agreement or production specs. Will, I think you have done an excellent job with your plan and the tikis are starting to look great, but I must agree with Big Bro though on the coloring. The people who make the final decision however, may want the garish colors, since they have been around for so long. It seems it would be much easier to stain the cement or Dye it in the mix and then highlight the details with darker/lighter browns and blacks. Show Kern this thread and show him a few samples of Tiki "Done Right" and maybe he will give the go-ahead. I believe You can pull it off. Thanks for all the time and effort you have put into this already. Somehow I think it is only a drop in the bucket compared to what is in the future for the whole deal. Big Bro, thank You too for chiming in and bringing some saneness to us again. I have been going to the Mai Kai for over 40 years and have watched many changes take place. It will be great to see some of the garden splendor return.

Yeah, Will deserves a Lot of credit for unearthing these molds and learning how to get quality casts from them. I Know for a fact that he had a difficult time in the beginning trying to figure out the best method to use to get the proper tiki out of the mold without it crumbling. HE put many hours into it and all with NO financial agreement or production specs.

Will, I think you have done an excellent job with your plan and the tikis are starting to look great, but I must agree with Big Bro though on the coloring. The people who make the final decision however, may want the garish colors, since they have been around for so long.

It seems it would be much easier to stain the cement or Dye it in the mix and then highlight the details with darker/lighter browns and blacks. Show Kern this thread and show him a few samples of Tiki "Done Right" and maybe he will give the go-ahead. I believe You can pull it off. Thanks for all the time and effort you have put into this already. Somehow I think it is only a drop in the bucket compared to what is in the future for the whole deal.

Big Bro, thank You too for chiming in and bringing some saneness to us again. I have been going to the Mai Kai for over 40 years and have watched many changes take place. It will be great to see some of the garden splendor return.

Post #329604 by Benzart on Sat, Sep 1, 2007 6:30 PM