Post #653349 by tiki1963 on Tue, Sep 25, 2012 1:40 PM

(INSERT "ROCKY THEME" HERE)

"Getting strong now...Won't be long now...Getting strong now....Gonna fly now...Flying high now...Gonna fly, fly, fly!"

Yes, our underdog is getting better and better every day. Before you know it, Palmer's gonna kick the crap out of that Lummox Commie bastard, Brigitte Neilsen!

Here's the latest from the surgery team at Oceanic Arts.

Palmer's been fully stripped and scrubbed of his old skin. He's back to beautiful, bare wood and was ready for his repair.

Leroy found all the spots that needed to be fortified and shelled them out. Custom pieces of redwood were cut and wedged into the cracks and crevices, fortifying them to the point they are probably stronger now than they were before the damage. (Think a well healed broken bone).

Just look at the detail in these shots of the central, long crack and the hole on the top of his head where literally dozens of custom cut pieces were wedged and hammered into position, filling the gaps.

BEFORE:

MID-WAY:

From there, a putty filler with added redwood powder is injected into the cracks and troweled over the top to complete the solidification. Once dry, that area is sanded back down to match the contour of the carving a'la bondo on a Lindsay Lohan BMW.

AFTER:

Pretty much all the cracks are filled now and it's off to the last and most exciting part; POLY-CHROMING!

Thanks again to Bob, Leroy, Susan and Paul at Oceanic Arts for the hard work and updates!