I finally finished the panel! It took me less time than expected (16 hours over the course of two weekends) and wasn't as bad as I thought. Don't get me wrong, it was still a challenge, but it just wasn't as much of a challenge as I feared (and used as an excuse for procrastination :)).
This weekend, I finished cutting the poppies. I then foiled everything (100 pieces, if I counted right!!), soldered it, and polished/waxed it. I'm super proud of how it turned out, as this is the largest item I've ever made. Enjoy the pics of my progress- hopefully I'll be able to take some in the sun before the panel heads to its owner! (see previous post for the full story)
Here is me working on it, so you can get a good sense of scale:
The pic below shows one poppy cut and one to go. The original artist did the right-hand poppy and I did my best to mimic their style. All the painter's tape was there to keep the pieces tight together (and to also prevent everything going everywhere if I accidentally bumped the table).
The photo below shows all three poppies done; the top one was not ground to fit at this point- just the rough cuts.
This picture below shows foiling progress. The right-hand poppy was not done at this point. Copper foil tape needs to be put around all pieces in order for the solder to stick. Foiling takes forever and is my least favorite step (especially when there are 100 pieces to do!!).
The picture below is the panel post-soldering. It's gorgeous! After soldering, the panel needs to be polished & waxed to delay oxidation- and then it can be sent to its new home.
Mission accomplished!
