Hula Sue's South Seas Hideaway

That bar is looking killer! Love the bamboo
and the maiden in the corner. you have such great ideas!
Welcome back PuPu!

TERRIFIC keep those creative pics a comin

Thortiki

Yer Bar is looking great!!
Nice work.
More pic's.

Great to see your back! I was suffering withdrawal symptoms!
Absolutely fantastic work. People like yourself give inspiration to all of us and I myself am truly great full. Its a pity there are a few pests along the way. Are their moderators on this forum that can block scumbags from posting trash?
I have only been a member for a few days and have learned more in that time than I have in a year or so.
Keep posting man your work is awesome!
Trader Bob
Australia!

I am seriously envious of you. I wish I had a space to have a bar like that. Oh well, I guess I just have to drool over your pictures for now. Keep up the great work.

I love the detail in that bar from your idea to do the portholes to the lighting behind the figurehead.

My Main Man is back! The bar is gorgeous, with beautiful, loverly lighting.

It's been a while. Hope your still posting!
Did you make your own Tapa cloth or did you buy it? Living in Australia it is a bit of a hassle getting hold of tiki bar building supplies you guys have Benson's, Oceanic arts, Franks cane and rush. and other places We have zip and none. freight and shipping charges are very expensive so we have to make our own stuff. Thatch Lahala matting floats and all that other stuff we have to import or find at trash markets or antique dealers who want a weeks pay for a 12 inch fishing float. Its even hard just to get hold of some Bamboo! Any way I need some Tapa cloth and if you made yours I would sure be great full if you gave us a little "how to" post.
Thanks....Trader Bob
South Seas, Australia

Wow...it is looking just awesome. Love your angles and lighting.

Thanks very much, my excellent friends! :)
Here are a few more recent pictures of work on the booth map.

The 'cyc' wall behind the booth is painted with a base color of dark blue granite textured paint from Home Depot into which I added several packets of metal 'sparkle' flakes.

The shallow water areas around the island will be painted with a lighter blue-green version. I'll also be adding a large map compass, painted island names and travel routes and a number of chalkware wall plaques as map 'icons' (fish, hula girls, tikis, hibiscus flowers, palm trees, etc).
There will be an ornate wood and bamboo border around the edge of the map.

The islands are made from carved in relief out of insulation styrofoam that was then primed, puttied and primed several more times to create a thick skin. It'll be painted to match the topography of the islands.

The sill around the back edge of the booth will be transformed into a sandy, undersea terrain with random terraced areas to display the shell and plant 'T.V.' lamps that see you see in a few of the pictures.

The ceiling will have a wrap-around awning that parallels the shape of the booth riser on the floor. The booth itself will be partially walled in with bamboo poles. As they wrap around to the front, some of them will be shorter pieces mounted from the floor up and from the ceiling down to create a graduated, irregular shaped opening at the front (as though someone cut a large hole out of the bamboo wall to view the booth).

The floor will eventually be painted to look like stone and the concrete steps will be chipped and ground with a grinder to create the appearance of mis-shapen stone.

Lots more work to do but it's coming along. :)

On 2009-12-29 00:39, Mr. Pupu Pants wrote:

VERY COOL!!! Thortiki

Pupu,

INCREDIBLE!! The map is definitely a highlight of the room, especially the location above the booth, that's just classic. Your work is so inspiring to me, I can't wait to get started on my own room, hopefully soon...Thanks for coming back and posting updates!!

Mahalo!!

Paul

John, you have such great ideas!
Really looking forward to seeing the
booth area evolve. Looking great so far!

P.S. You asked about the frames for my
velvets on my thread. I can ask my framer
for the info and pass it on to you if you like.

Happy New Year!

Jason

WOW is in order and a BIG congrats on your wonderous gift of imagination!
The place looks jawdropping allready ,make sure to keep us all motivated and jealous!

Mr. PuPu Pants,
First of all, your name is fun to say.
This thread is a great inspiration and you are a very talented master craftsman.
Thank you for sharing this adventure with us!
What a way to start out 2010.
ALOHA!

Mr. Pants, what a wonderful project! The whole place is coming together and the attention to detail is amazing!!! Great Job!!!!

Happy New Year !

amy

Awesome work John! That booth and table is a great find

The level of work you're doing is so inspiring and amazing I can hardly stand it. Beautiful attention to detail. If my place looked that good I'd explode with pride.
Thanks for keeping us all posted with the updates.

I just can't thank you guys enough for all the kind words and encouragement. I have to admit, it makes it even more fun as I work on it and look forward to sharing stuff with you all. I've certainly received my share of inspiration and ideas from all of you.

I'll post updates on the crashed airplane 'lei-over' seating area within the week.

Thanks again, you guys are awesome.

On 2009-12-29 20:30, Mr. Pupu Pants wrote:
I just can't thank you guys enough for all the kind words and encouragement. I have to admit, it makes it even more fun as I work on it and look forward to sharing stuff with you all. I've certainly received my share of inspiration and ideas from all of you.

I'll post updates on the crashed airplane 'lei-over' seating area within the week.

Thanks again, you guys are awesome.

pupu rocks!

Mr Pupu your room looks great!
Thanks for the pic's
It's fun to watch you progress.
I was looking up ww2 radio on ebay
was looking for music but got more
radios of the time.
These radios looked like something needed
in your bar.( You know the "may day may day we are going down" type)
I don't think they sold too high.
Check it out, they are fun to see anyway.
Good luck! keep the photos coming!!!

Gosh, I missed you! Oh,crap! Does that sound like a man-crush? Errr, cuz it isn't. No really, it's not. Oh nevermind. Great work as usual PuPu!

Mr. Pupu.
great build so far and like everyone eles i'm waiting for the next pics. Glad your back!! Did want to ask what did you use for the diamond background in the entry stair area? Looks hand painted??

Again great build.........wish I had a basement....er.. large room.....corner??

Ben, with two words, you made my month. Thanks :)

Tikiskip, we're on the exact same wavelength (pun intended) :)

Amy, you are awesome and you (and Ben et, al) have created your very own Magic Kingdom. So incredibly cool. You are livin' the dream, baby!

Kahuna, I can't quit you (in a manly sort of way). :)

Trader Bob, Ka'lenatiki (is that your Kryptonian name?) -- thanks very much for the nice words. The pattern on the wall at the entrance is actual glued Tapa cloth I bought from a nice gentleman in Hawaii. It would be pretty easy to recreate on your own with brush and sponge.

Mike, Matt, Jason, Paul, Tikiville, Unga Bunga -- thank YOU for the very kind motivation.

Sorry, I meant to post again much sooner but I've been pretty swamped on some videos for work. I'll post updates very soon (I'm working in the basement all weekend).
Thanks again,
John

Amazing - that topographic map is so cool. I can't wait to see the finished product. SOOOO much time and effort! Do these excellent ideas just pop into your head or do you research your butt off? I just sit here with my mouth agape looking at the details! I do love the airplane section too - really clever. Hey, how come we've never met - we're practically neighbors! :wink: I'm glad you came back to us - I really missed these updates.

I am PuPu inspired! Not in the same league, but inspired!

Hi Beadtiki, sheesh, we are neighbors! :) I hope I get a chance to meet you.
The time and effort is a big part of the fun and I figure, when it's done, I'll have learned alot as well.
I just try to put my own twist on the stuff that has inspired me (much of it here on Tiki Central -- so much talent and encouragement on this site).

As a general rule of thumb, what has helped me draw everything together is creating a sort of 'backstory' for the bar in order to stick with a theme of design and content.

I figured, if I was going to do it, I might as well go all out (which is the only mode I know -- for better or worse).
I picked a 'decade' (1945-1955ish) and a 'location' (favorite beach on Kauai) and a 'purpose' (floatplane airport beach bar) and other 'influences' (Disney, WW2, Nautical, Hawaii Vacation Travel) and collected and designed stuff around that. It has helped me keep style, color and materials together (and then I break the 'rules' from there).

It definitely makes an overall difference when the layers of details look like they were 'created' with similar type materials and techniques. Helps create a 'reality'. I don't mean for this to sound all overblown...blah, blah, blah -- just the only way I can think to describe what I was thinking.

Hey Bongo, I look around this site with my jaw lowered all the time. I just try to remember that we're each in a league of our own (based on space and resources) ....and there's no crying in Tiki :)
Also -- I can't tell you the number of mistakes I've made that turned into....uh.....'works of art'. Thanks very much for the very kind words.
John

I must admit I too have the PuPu flu. This is one of my all time favorite posts on TC. The idea of a back story is classic and you should have a bar menu with the story written on it somewhere. I was wondering if your idea for the outrigger seating area is still a go? And as always you are doing a fantastic job.

Eagerly awaiting new pics. I've begun to plan the Mauna Kai Lounge a little better & should have progress of my own to report, soon. I sure could use some more ideas to steal!
PS: Hey, Trav! You're creepin' up on 1000 posts. We'll have to have a virtual shindig!

On 2010-01-24 16:00, uncle trav wrote:
I must admit I too have the PuPu flu. This is one of my all time favorite posts on TC. The idea of a back story is classic and you should have a bar menu with the story written on it somewhere. I was wondering if your idea for the outrigger seating area is still a go? And as always you are doing a fantastic job.

You should contact Sophista-Tiki for a personalized menu - have you seen the pop-up menu she did for the swap? Really fun. Thanks for sharing with us all - it is a bit addictive!

This is my first post on TC. I've been following for a long time now. I have seen some amazing things on this site by some amazing people but this thread has to be one of the best of TC. REALLY incredible to see the awesome ideas take shape. It's always fun to see someone into this stuff show a thread of their project but this one is just so damn awesome! Mr. Pupu, You are such a brilliant creator and you do a really top notch job carrying out these awesome ideas. I think you have constantly raised the bar on this project to a far more imaginative and custom room than any of us thought it would originally be. Really inspiring to me to see this thread. Please continue to post photos- over post send us tons of photos from your awesome world! Really killer stuff!

Need a fix Mr. PPP!

I second that, this thread is one of the main reasons to come to Tiki Central! The stuff you've done fires me up for the day I finally have a space to build a tiki bar of my own. And the backstory idea was really nice.

You guys just floor me with your kind words. Thank you very, very much. :)
Here is a quick/lame pic of recent progress on the Hawaii Map behind the corner booth. The 'water' is painted with blue and sea green Home Depot 'Granite' textured paint to which I added a bunch of metal flakes to give it that glittery glint. The islands only have a base coat of earth tone and I'm proceeding to build up and paint the topography. I may add some glittery white-caps in the shallows and at the shore's edge as well.

There will also be a directional compass at the lower center of the map as well as route lines and island names. More soon.

XOXO,
John

[ Edited by: mr. pupu pants 2010-02-25 01:44 ]

[ Edited by: Mr. Pupu Pants 2010-04-13 17:59 ]

WOW! That's looking REALLY nice! I can't wait to see those islands all painted up! Are you gonna put a red dot where the active volcano (Kilawaha?) is?! Fun, fun, fun!

Looking spectacular!

You're going to work up quite a thirst by the time all is said and done!

That is amazing. I absolutely love it. Fantastic work.

Thanks for the detailed progress pics. Really looking good; love the curved corner and relief maps are awesome! Drool, drool, drool....

So f-ing cool!

Spectacular !!

That is gonna look amazing John!

The map looks incredible. You have done such a fantastic job on the room- what an inspiration!

I think this is my favorite thread on TC. Thank you for showing us your space as it progresses, Pupu!

To quote the late, great Jake Blues, "This place has got everything!"

I guess I'm the lucky one of the group. I get to stop by and see the progress. Can't wait for the grand opening.

I had to chime in and give credit where it's due.

Thanks to this thread, the lure of the islands has me firmly in its grasp. I was once bitten hard by the Tiki bug but abandoned it because I couldn't share the feelings it gave me with anyone in my circle of friends and family; they just didn't understand. Now, however, I feel compelled to reacquaint myself with the sights and sounds of Tiki culture. I only wish I had a space as deliciously over-the-top as yours in which to indulge my rapidly rising Tiki fever. And what a wonderful fever it is!

Thanks for sharing your process with all of us. You are an inspiration, indeed!

Thanks very much guys. This thread is has gotten pretty stretched out so I thought I would consolidate some of the old pictures before posting some new ones.
Every one of these areas is a work in progress. I like to jump back and forth between the individual projects :)

Walls:

Entrance:

Some Frames:

Bar Construction:

Airplane Section:

Booth Areas:

Adding these on 4/13 to update:

Update:

Diorama behind bar...

New pictures coming soon.

[ Edited by: Mr. Pupu Pants 2011-05-13 04:32 ]

Maganda!

Thanks for showing us this, I can't wait to see the next set of pictures.