SHOP TALK ~ The Official Blog of Paragon 2008-07-19T19:16:09ZLisa McKaylmckay@paragonprops.comCopyright 2008, Lisa McKaySPHPBLOGThe Move Update It's hard to get prop people to throw stuff out -- you never know, you might need it someday -- but everyone has embraced the house cleaning.
We're less than 2 weeks away from the official Out Day (out of Westgate Rd) and everything is going really well. Even relocating the booth (a big job) was quite painless. So far, the thing that gave us the most grief was moving the Internet -- we were offline for, like, 5 days! That's crazy in this day and age!
I'm hoping to have some photos up soon but here is some important information in the meantime:
As of June 7, 2007, we will be fully set-up in our new shop at:
2342 Wyecroft Rd
Unit G1
Oakville ON
L6L 6M1
2342 Wyecroft is located in an industrial complex called Village Auto Care. We do not have any street frontage -- we're at the back (the south end) of the complex. Village Auto Care is on the south side of Wyecroft between Westgate and Pacific Rds.
Stay tuned!
]]>http://www.paragonprops.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070528-1330052007-05-28T00:00:00Z2007-05-28T00:00:00ZRe-Visit the Shop DogsThe Shop Dogs page . We have some new additions to our family.
]]>http://www.paragonprops.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070418-1411432007-04-18T00:00:00Z2007-04-18T00:00:00ZWe're Moving! First of all, it's right down the street, on Wyecroft Rd -- barely half a mile from where we are now. It has exactly the amount of space we were looking for (same production capacity, reduced office space) and for the right price. Plus a bunch of other things: it already has a hole in the ceiling for our spray booth extraction fan, level loading, a mezzanine level over the office... and more.
In terms of timing, the majority of the move will happen throughout May. Our goal is to be up and running in the new building by June 1.
Production will not stop at any time. We're going to stagger the move of the shop based on our prodution schedule so that there won't be any down time. What will probably happen is we'll have two shops running simultaneously for a couple of weeks. We're making arrangements to link the phone line to both buildings so you will always be able to reach us. And, of course, there are always cell phones.
We've employed a whole separate team of people to manage and coordinate the move. This is great because it allows us (management and administration) to stay focused on projects, clients and day-to-day running of the shop(s).
There will, of course, be obstacles to overcome, as with any move. We'll do everything we can to make it as smooth a transition as possible but we ask for your support and patience. We feel this move is critical to the long term sustainability of the company and we're looking forward to creating new memories and experiences.
More details, new contact info, and photos to come soon!]]>http://www.paragonprops.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070417-1436152007-04-17T00:00:00Z2007-04-17T00:00:00ZIt's All About the Fish... As promised, here are some photos of the fish with their lovely copper finish. Don't they look great? Now, imagine about 250 of them hanging from a ceiling, all swimming together, properly lit -- it will be stunning! (As soon as they're installed -- all 500 pick points of them -- I'll let you know where they are in the world. I don't want to ruin the element of surprise for the client of our client's client).
We'd like to say a very special thanks to Vacuum Metalizing in Toronto who helped us out in big way on this project.
]]>http://www.paragonprops.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070320-1259272007-03-20T00:00:00Z2007-03-20T00:00:00ZSlushing the Fish It's a pretty intense process: once the liquid plastic has been measured exactly to the amount that they need per fish, they pour it into a mold (we've got 9 molds going) and then -- as fast as a NASACR pit team -- they bolt the two halves of the mold together.
Then, the fun part: they have to keep the mold in motion, so the resin slushes around on the inside of the mold evenly until it sets. It's a slow, controlled movement... kind of like Tai Chi. The whole process only takes a few minutes, from mixing the resin to pulling the fish from the mold. (There are actually roto-casting machines that do the same thing but that's so impersonal, don't you think?)
When the fish are hatched, they get a little bit of sanding and will be treated with a faux copper finish. Photos of finished fish to come soon. In the meantime, here are some shots of the fish team members in action.
]]>http://www.paragonprops.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070308-1629202007-03-08T00:00:00Z2007-03-08T00:00:00ZCool... As Ice Sculpture The tiered shelves are used for displaying merchandise.
Adding light to the inside was a brilliant idea on the part of our client's creative team. It looks great on it's own but the fake ice catches light so beautifully -- your eye is immediately drawn to it. We installed custom-controlled, colour-changing LED lighting.
The client is so pleased we are developing an exclusive line of display components using this technique.
]]>http://www.paragonprops.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070305-1528352007-03-05T00:00:00Z2007-03-05T00:00:00ZUsing Rapid Prototype Plastics There is a huge world out there of rapid prototype plastics and I don't know the first thing about the science involved but I can tell you about the kinds of things we use it for -- it may be the perfect solution for your upcoming project.
The best thing about RPPs is the rapid part -- the stuff kicks in seconds, and cures in minutes -- which makes it a great option for casting projects with short timelines, or when there are many multiples. (For instance, we're about to cast 250 fish).
It also comes in a wide range of colours and we can use it with silicone molds (our preferred type of mold because of the fine detail we can achieve).
This dragon head was cast in plastic and painted to look like wood:
]]>http://www.paragonprops.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070302-1449352007-03-02T00:00:00Z2007-03-02T00:00:00ZHappy Chinese New Year Feb 18 We like to think of it as the year of The Paragon Innovation Group (The PIG).
]]>http://www.paragonprops.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070216-1325552007-02-16T00:00:00Z2007-02-16T00:00:00ZLooking for an Admin Assistant If you have an assistant manager background in the arts community (eg. assistant stage manager, assistant company manager, etc) have a yen for organization, enjoy multi-tasking, and are a whiz with Microsoft Excel, please email your resume to me at lmckay@paragonprops.com. A copy of the job description is available on request.
]]>
.JPG)
]]>
]]>