Cavalier Freeway No. 1

Around June of 2010, my wife and I started looking for our first new home.  We decided to do a hard target search around central Phoenix, particularly in neighborhoods that were close to the Metro Light-rail and major access roads.  Sure enough, we found the house of our dreams in a cute little neighborhood, from 1955.

(My wife has done a fantastic job documenting the renovation of our house, and you can see those posts on her blog starting with this entry: http://flyingdivincenzos.blogspot.com/2010/07/this-house-is-just-right-rustilocks.html).

Seriously, if Mayberry could be transported into the future, this little area would be it.  Most of the houses are to their original design specifications from when they were built.  One of our neighbors, Mary, has been the original owner of her house since her husband helped build them.  It is rumored that the Doyle’s (my wife’s family) may have even helped with some of the plumbing for the houses in this neighborhood.  All of our neighbors know each other and keep a watchful eye on the street.

So, when my wife and I saw the “Cavalier Freeway No. 1” sign lying on its face on the freeway entrance side of our little community, we resolved to save it, starting with chasing down a guy trying to take it for scrap at 11:30 at night.

Yes folks, that’s right, we are weird.

Cavalier Freeway No. 1 is the designation for this neighborhood when it was built in the 1950’s, and part of that design for the planned community was a massive wrought iron sign with the name of the development.  Well, for many years, it stood in this one particular corner lot yard until about a week ago, when it fell over. We don’t know what happened; whether it was a storm, or a drunk driver, or just some random act of God.  The elderly lady who owns the house who had no means of fixing the sign gave it up to the scrap heap, which brings us to 4 days ago, and the brief late night chase.

As I was bringing my wife home from the train station, we noticed a pick-up truck heading toward us with the sign strapped to the bed.  We immediately turned around, pulled them over, and had the driver return it to the yard from whence it came.  The next day, Allie and I tried to rescue the sign, only to see that it was way too big to fit into our Honda Element.  We also noticed that the sign had a note attached to it reading “free”.  We decided it was time to talk to the owner of the property.  After a lovely chat with Barbara, and learning that she really couldn’t do anything with it, we said we would take it for safe keeping, as we felt that we just couldn’t let a piece of neighborhood history die in the smelter of a scrap yard.  She lent us some flatbed dollies that she had, and my wife and I wheeled it down the street to our house, passing every neighbor we have on the way, explaining ourselves multiple times to our befuddled fellow homeowners.

As we speak, the sign is sitting pretty in our backyard, for now.

We are not sure what to do with it; I think we are going to attempt to restore it with a fresh coat of paint.  However, after that, we have to see if the city has any interest in saving it; otherwise, it may just become a part of the history that is our home, Mulberry Park.

The "Repo Men - Design an Artiforg" Contest

Every now and then, a contest comes along that looks really exciting and interesting to enter into.  One of those contests was hosted by DeviantArt.com (www.deviantart.com). The contest was held at the time that the movie “Repo Men” was due out in theaters.  The parameter of the contest to design an artificial organ for the movie called an “Artiforg”.

After thinking it over for a while, and looking at some of the entrants that had been posted on the site, I decided that I would tackle the human spine.  Most people had posted smaller, less complex organs, like kidneys, livers, or eyes (lots of eyes).  I figured I would try to create something larger, more complex and original.  So, off I went to work on the spine.
It was quite a complex project, beginning with researching the actual layout and physiology of the human spine.  I had to research tons of medical drawings just to find enough usable images to begin modeling my spine in my modeling software.  

After researching spinal images, I had to come up with a way to convert the human, biological form into a mechanical, fluid form that would look like a biomechanical version of a spine.  Not an easy task.  It took several days to model each piece of the human vertebrae.  After that, I had to model wiring, hydraulics, tensions springs and other details to make this model look realistic. 

 Finally, it came time to render this thing.  After another 2 days of coloring, texturing and creating a custom lighting design, it was done.  After much tweaking and trepidation, I final posted my design on the DeviantArt.com site.

 Sadly, it did not win.  However, working on this project taught me more about how to better use my modeling and rendering software and expanded my knowledge on texture and lighting design, so it was definitely worth the time and effort.  I also walked away with a better working knowledge of the human spine.

If Lone Wolf Drafting and Design goes under, maybe I will try my hand at spinal surgery.

Thanks for reading!

February 18th, 2010

Yep, February 18th, 2010 – that is the last time a posted a blog.
A few days ago, I was looking at all of my stuff, my work archives, my photo archives, my blog files, my website – and then I clicked on this little button that says “stats”. Wow – people actually read this stuff. People actually look at my website. However, I did also notice a decline in how many people were looking at my various online works. I decided to take a look at the last time I posted anything – the date: 2-18-2010.

Unacceptable.

Therefore, I have decided to take up blogging again, and make sure I post more work as it is completed. All that being said, however, I cannot take all of the blame for my lack of blogging. This year has been filled with many ups and downs. For a while, I didn’t think my little company was going to survive. Work dried up for a long time as the Great Recession has continued to march on (the folks on Wall Street who say the recession is over clearly have no concept of the real world, and that is all I will say on that subject).
Personally, life got a bit stressful. The apartment I was living in with my wife was just way too small, and the rent was going up. My wife’s employment status was hanging by a thread a couple of times during the beginning of the year. However, through the grace of God, work trickled in when we needed it from my oldest clients. Then, the biggest change of our lives came around – my wife and I bought a house, our very first house. The mortgage is far less then our old rent, and it is a much bigger and more appropriate space for a new family starting out. For almost 6 months out of 2010, we shopped for a house, bought the house, renovated and then moved in to said house. This was one of the major reasons for my non blogging status, lately.
Since moving into my new home, I have tried to keep Lone Wolf Drafting and Design alive with success. I have updated my website for the first time in 8 or 9 months. In the coming weeks and months, I will post new projects on this blog and give you, the reader the “behind the scenes” explanation of how they came about. I will also be picking up older projects that just seemed to “fizzle” – the Classic Industrial Loft comes to mind right away. There are also upcoming projects (both personal and professional) that are currently on the digital drawing board, and I will begin posting those as well.

For those of you that have kept this blog on your RSS feeds through this time of inactivity, I thank you for your patience. For those of you who may have strayed away, I don’t blame you, but now is the time to come back.

Here is a sneak preview of what’s to come:

On behalf of Lone Wolf Drafting and Design, we wish all a happy and safe holiday season, and a prosperous new year!

"The Rabbit" Conceptual Aircraft

Hello All - it has been some time since my last post on this blog. Between the severe economic recession and a bit of "designer's block", I haven't had the time or motivation to do anything new until recently. I decided to sit down and create a new theoretical/ conceptual aircraft design called "The Rabbit". Here is the description as seen on my website, http://www.lonewolfdrafting.com/: “The Rabbit” is a new aircraft concept that I have been working on for the past few weeks. This aircraft is designed to be a short range fast attack aircraft with reconnaissance capabilities. The Rabbit’s 3 over sized engines give the aircraft a tremendous amount of speed and maneuverability, while its 18 30 mm wing mounted rapid fire machine guns make it a formidable dogfight opponent. The downside to this aircraft’s engine design is its ravenous appetite for fuel. The Rabbit’s range is significantly decreased when all 3 engines are operating at full throttle. However, the Rabbit can cruise at a modest speed at altitude for an extended amount of time with just the center engine running, giving the aircraft an extended range. The other two engines are reserved for fast flight, or increased maneuverability. The folding wing design allows for more compact storage in tight hanger bays, as opposed to the space robbing fixed wing design. The Rabbit is the second model of theoretical aircraft that I have developed, and I will be working on more soon. Here are a couple of images of the newest images, more can be seen on the site.

Industrial Loft Progress

Master Bedroom and Bathroom

The master bedroom and bathroom have been designed to faithfully complement the overall loft project. The entire space maintains the industrial feel of the whole apartment with efforts made to make the space feel cozy and warm. Some of the unique features include the massive factory style entry doors, double sided oversized fireplace with iron grated doors, and vintage style bathroom. The bedroom features two sets of double doors that access a balcony area. Between the double doors is the double sided fireplace. The fireplace is open on both sides to allow the user to enjoy the warmth from both inside and outside. The bathroom will be finished in black and white subway tile, and features independent pedestal sinks and claw foot tub. Off of the bathroom is a small hallway that allows access to his and hers master closets. The entire space enjoys massive windows, transom windows and skylights to allow the maximum amount of natural light and ventilation throughout the space.

Bed and Steamer Trunk

Entry Doors and Balcony Doors

Skylight Over Bed

Skylight Over Tub

View Into Bathroom

Pedistal Sinks

Door to Closets

Bed, Photo Frames, and Clock

View to Bathroom

Firplace and Balcony Doors

Bedroom