11/30/2017

Well the last 24 hours has been spent mostly in doctors offices trying to figure out what is causing the massive problems Soldier A is going through.

Today there was only one quick trip to give lab samples. That left enough time for him to replenish the wood supply for the fire place. Doing that gave us enough room to set up to sand the roof hatch so we can put the scales on. We really need to do this to get an A class plan for the rest of the truck.

11/28/2017

A bit anti climactic today. In an effort to recover from this weekends debacle, Soldier A took the Dragon Wagon over to Grocery Outlet to set up today. The weather was ok and he did get a little business for a Monday.

However, he forgot to take pictures!

11/26/2017

Looks like a lot of hard working people got had this weekend. Hard to believe there are people that would dupe so many others during the holiday season.

Total patron attendance this weekend was probably less than 400. With 50 plus vendors, that meant most went home in the hole and hungry. Our hearts go out to all of them.

As we started to make the rounds and talk to most of them we found out that almost every vendor was a first timer. The few that were returns said that this was pretty much the same thing as last year.

All of a sudden it became very clear that this whole thing was a work. It seems that for the last four or five years  this crew has been going out and soliciting an entire new group of vendors for a supposed Christmas event that is really just a joke!

There is next to no attendance and they serve the food at a charge to each booth as well. The average vendor went home in the hole, while this crew walked away with between 3 to 5 grand.

How do you live with yourself doing this at Christmas???

So, we packed up and headed home, looking for a way to make up for our losses  before X-Mas.,

11/25/2017

Got down to Centralia this morning for the start of the Santa's List Bazaar. Things seemed a bit strange because there were so many vendors that we recognized from the jubilee in August. So, we said hi to everyone and got the booth read for the day.

We have had slow starts at events in the past but this was like a no start day. Almost no attendance, so we spent the day shooting the shit with our fellow vendors. Hope tomorrow is better. With Soldier A as sick as he is, this is not the time for us to be going in the hole at events.

Forgot to take pictures but nobody missed anything! LMAO!

11/24/2017

Back at the Morton Loggers Jubilee in August we were approached and invited to do a big Christmas event in Centralia, WA this weekend. This will be the first time we have taken the Dragon Wagon inside for an event.

For the sake of all the other vendors that are going to be attending,we had to go down before everyone else and get the big girl inside and in place. We set her up and headed back to the motor pool.

Hope this is as good an event as it was described!

11/23/2017

The four really hard days in a row that led to the Dragon Wagon getting her winter paint job really took a toll on Soldier A, with his health issues still being a big part of life around the motor pool.

So, he took the better part of three days off for doctor visits and rest, but you just can't keep him down. Today in the pouring rain we got the first dragon skull mounted on the wagon. Then the gull wing got put back on after a bit of paint touch up. That was followed by reloading the Wagon for our first Christmas event of the season.

We are going to be in Centralia, Washington this weekend for the Santa's List Bazaar. This is an indoor event at the Fair Grounds and the Dragon Wagon will be inside and dry for all to see!

The rest of the day was dedicated to inventory production and prep for the trip. After that, some yummy turkey and stuffin' for dinner. Happy Thanksgiving to all of our awesome followers!

11/19/2017

The champagne is out and the motor pool is rockin! The Dragon Wagon now has a complete fiberglass layer on her backed up with two fill coats of epoxy. So, the temporary paint got done today. Ready for the X -Mas events coming up!

 

11/18/2017

First fiberglass coat is done and we are ready for winter! Tomorrow will be temp paint completion if we are lucky.

11/17/2017

Big pieces of fiberglass went on today. That wraps up all the large sections still needing the first layer of glass. Only the small section on the driver's side is left now. SO CLOSE!

11/15/2017

Two days of rain means inventory production and a trip to the store for hardware.

11/13/2017

Worked to build up inventory for the coming X mas events. No action shots today.

11/12/2017

Small windows mean moving fast! And that was exactly the case today. A three hour window of good weather allowed us to get two more pieces of fiberglass on and a considerable amount of painting done.

11/11/2017

Best wishes to all Veterans and their families!



A somewhat somber day at the motor pool, but there was still a great deal of progress. Got a good deal more fiberglass on the Dragon Wagon. We also got a bit more temporary base paint on in key areas before the rain started up again. It will be fine, though,as we used the heat gun to cure everything out real well.

11/10/2017

Got a bit of a surprise today with a bit of good weather. Enough to let us get the last big piece of fiberglass on the nose cone over the driver's side.

We also got more temporary paint on. We have a few Christmas events coming up and want to get the Dragon Wagon in full color for them.

 

11/9/2017

Still fighting the rain! We got the gull wing off the Dragon Wagon today and managed to do a bit of temporary painting for the up coming events before the rain really started to com down.

11/8/2017

We have lights! Spent the day chasing supplies and the lights we need to be 100% DOT compliant. Got some awesome LEDs that will do the job and some really killer amber lights for the dragon eyes.

11/7/2017

Leaks! That's how the day started. Soldier A began sanding the lower area of the forward box and water started dripping out. Not good!

Looks as if the area on that side which has not received the first coat of fiberglass had the epoxy shrink and open up some areas that water could get through. So, he began damage control right away while David and I finished the tear down of the troop seats and rails. That job is now done!
Lots of attention with the heat gun, followed by the sander and router, got things ready for more fairing compound, and an
other solid coat of resin should hold until we can get the glass on that area.

Another long but productive day with the help of a good friend.

11/6/2017

Really kicked some butt today! David, one of our good neighbors, came over today and helped me disassemble the troop racks so we can use the rails to build our handrail system for the roof.


This allowed Soldier A to continue on with the fiber
glass work, and he was able to get the angled section of the nose cone on the passenger side done. With the weather being as nice as it was, he also got most of the penetrated screws ground down so we can apply epoxy to the under side of the bedroom.

The help of a friend on days like this is priceless!

11/5/2017

First, our condolences and deepest, best wishes to the shooting victims in Texas this very sad Sunday.

It snowed most of the day here at the motor pool so we made an inventory and admin day of it. Nothing to take pictures of except the new style of bracelet that Soldier A made.

11/4/2017

Ok, so when the can of epoxy resin says 40 degrees on it that's what it means! LOL! It was 37 degrees at the motor pool today and as fast as we poured the resin on the truck it turned into a gel-like mess.

It ended up that we had to use the heat gun, squeegee, and roller all at the same time to get the epoxy to saturate the fiberglass cloth. What a fiasco!

We did manage to get the remaining piece of reinforcing tape on the driver side and complete the roof hatch. Once sanded,

it will be ready for the application of Dragon scales. A good place to start that learning process.

11/3/2017

Weather! It just won't give us a break. We went from light drizzle to this season's first snowstorm in a few short minutes. The window to work on the truck today was about an hour. That being the case, we sanded the putty on the rest of the passenger side of the bed so we can finish the addition to the reinforcement strip, prior to completing the lower box construction.

We also got the last reinforcement strip on the hatch lid. Now, it is ready for the full coat of fiberglass and scales.

Finally, we got several more of the skirt panels pre sanded and ready for putty, even though a couple of them needed a bit of putty touch up. All in all a productive day.

As it worked out, Soldier B, who always gets the shit jobs, had to brave the rain with an electric tool in hand to help the fairing compound cure out.
 

11/2/2017

Rain and colder than we would have liked, so today was not a work on the Dragon Wagon day. That didn't stop Soldier A from getting stuff done. It turned into a battle field day. The skirting panels seam to be giving him a lot more trouble than expected.

He finally got frustrated and decided to try skim coating one of the panels with the thought that it would allow us to sand these things smooth enough for lettering. Guess we'll find out!

He also got the third side of the roof hatch reinforcement tape on.

11/1/2017

Had to pick up some more materials this morning, but got a bit of a break afterwards. The dry weather was just enough for Soldier A to get a reinforcing strip on the bed section that was puttied yesterday.