Post #814202 by MadDogMike on Thu, Nov 7, 2024 8:40 PM

Thank you danlovestikis <3

My patio wall is naturally divided into 4 sections by features of the house that protrude into the patio, namely a bay window and the back of the fireplace. The first section I developed several years back has bamboo at the bottom and dark wood paneling on top and is used for hanging artwork. A second area (the back of the fireplace) is a wall of recreated Papua New Guinea artifacts. The third area was my recently developed Temple of the Jade Jaguar.

And the last section I have reserved to dedicate to El Tiki. (El Tiki)[https://tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic_id=28796&start=0] was a restaurant in the 60s and 70s created by my wife's father. I've told this story before but I worked there as a teen, my wife was a couple years younger than me (and cute!) and worked there as a waitress. We went to prom together then went our separate ways, only to marry 35 years later. El Tiki represents Teresa's love for her father, our common love for Tiki, and our love for each other. Surely, it deserves a section of the patio wall?

The outside of El Tiki was covered with Pecky Cedar. This wood had "pecks" or holes in it caused by a fungal infection while the tree is living. The base for our wall will be Pecky Cedar but real Pecky Cedar is rare (and expensive). So I'm going to make Faux Pecky Cedar. Started with 1x4 furring to attach the cedar boards to the stucco wall.

I took 1x8 dog ear cedar fence boards and cut the dog ears off. Then used a router to cut random slots with a router in varying depths.

Stained inside the "pecks" with Minwax Red Oak. I would have prefered they were a little redder and a little lighter. But I'm thinking they will fade a bit over time and be just right

Then Minwax Ipswich Pine stain over the rest of the boards. One section of the wall done.

This early 1960s picture shows a neon sign on top of the restaurant.

The original neon sign is long gone. So I did an LED neon recreation

An old picture from the bar. Can you see the sign in the upper left hand corner on the wall?

This sign fits Ben's personality perfectly LOL I made it with my 3D printer

Ben had a guy who would bring by assorted oddities for sale, Nets, puffer fish and a "Jenny Haniver" that hung above the bar. I always called it a devil fish, it was an alien looking thing made from a shaped and dried stingray. This is one I made a few years back from styrofoam that will hang in a net on the wall with some abalone shells that were used on the bar as ashtrays.

Another oddity was a real whale rib bone that sat in a planter box outside of the restaurant. As I remember it was about 10 feet long. This was prior to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, of course you cannot buy those anymore. I would like to create a replica whale rib and vertebrae about 6-8 feet tall. Either carved from palm wood (which has a similar texture to weathered bone) and painted white. Or carved from a block of styrofoam and coated with white textured polymer modified mortar mix. Pictured is a 3D printed model that will help me shape the one I want to make