Luigi Prina: A Fantasy Artist of Straight Out of My Dream World

I was thinking last night about a remarkable artist I first read about in The Blinking City, Luigi Prina.  I posted about him before but his work never ceases to amaze me.  Mr. Prina has been an architect for over 50 years but his model building is a real combination of inspired art and fantasy.  He’s been building flying models from paper and balsa wood since he was very young shows his amazing and artistic genius.

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Many look like images from Leonardo DaVinci’s workshop and are beautiful to look at, much less to see fly.

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Have a look at the article (I’ve reprinted some of the images below) and watch the short video of this remarkable Maker of dreams.  The Blinking City has a load of other great articles very worth reading.

Luigi Prina Flying Ships Milan

Luigi Prina Flying Ships Milan

Luigi Prina Flying Ships Milan

Luigi Prina Flying Ships Milan

Luigi Prina Flying Ships Milan
Luigi Prina Flying Ships Milan

Luigi Prina Flying Ships Milan

vLuigi Prina Flying Ships Milan

Luigi Prina Flying Ships Milan

Luigi Prina Flying Ships Milan

Luigi Prina Flying Ships Milan

Luigi Prina Flying Ships Milan

Luigi Prina Flying Ships Milan

Luigi Prina Flying Ships Milan

Luigi Prina Flying Ships Milan

Luigi Prina Flying Ships Milan

And click this link to see even more: Luigi Prina

More Joinery

Here’s a beautiful trestle table coming together in Andy Rawls’ studio; spotted on his Tumblr this morning.

trestleSeeing this makes me realize I can’t wait to get some projects done over the three day weekend.  It makes me a little sad to say something like that.  Choosing a job for pay instead of a love for what you do every day.  Of course, the grass always looks greener…

dovetailtressleThis will be one solid table and will last for ages if treated well.  This kind of craftsmanship has slipped away from most of our daily lives.  You won’t find this at a big chain furniture store.  Have a look at more of his remarkable work by clicking the link below.

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A Master at Work

It is awe-inspiring to see a master of anything at work, making their creation seem almost effortless.  Many thousands of hours, or even thousands of days, really show at a high level of work.  This isn’t to say that repetitive tasks are always fulfilling or require lot’s of mental exercise but that is often the route to real craftsmanship.  This short film is a great thing to watch.

Butcher block counter top.

Wise and thoughtful words for Makers.  It’s the thoughtfulness that a hand-craftsman puts into his project, not the speed or even cost that makes something worth making in the first place.

woodworkernetwork's avatarWoodworker Network

“If you remain insensitive to the individual characteristics of the material you are working with and cut regardless to a predetermined, exact measurement, then the finished piece will lack a certain wholeness and be little better than something you could have bought from a factory.” – Graham Blackburn

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Topper Update

Here are a few images to clarify some questions about the wooden topper.  It is not a work of art.  It was to be used for a single field project last summer but now I really like it so it will be a permanent part of the rolling home.

topper1Here’s the overview sans roof rack.  It has received about five more coats of spar varnish after a good sanding.  It is built from recycled lumber so there is some small shrinkage checking and a little discoloration from some mold or fungus but it hardly visible.

topper2Tacomas really suck for attaching racks and toppers for a couple reasons.  The top rails of the bed are plastic over some fairly unsubstantial metal and there are no stake holes.  There is however, the nifty rail system inside the bed that is secure.  To attach this topper, I used some construction straps from the Big Box Store which are screwed in behind the rails.  This is the forward view, blemishes and all.  The rope is for hanging up wet stuff like towels, swimsuits, etc.

topper3Here is another strap at the aft end utilizing one of the bed bolts in a reenforced spot.

topper4And finally, here is an image of one of the knee braces that are screwed and glued to the frame to strengthen the door area.  I hope this helps if someone else wants to construct something like this.

Instructables

Just a note to those wishing to replicate some of the projects here…

I am working up some projects for the Instructables library and hope to continue this.  I find it to be a wonderful site and you can really find almost anything there.  I encourage Makers to post their stuff there as well as it is a great way to pass on knowledge.

My recent Instructables are an 18th Century Possibles or Shooting Bag:

and an overview of the rucksack with the layout sketches included:

Visit Instructables to learn more about making, fixing, hacking, or deconstructing just about anything you can imagine:

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Instructables: share what you make