You know when you work out and then your muscles are sore? Like that, but in the stomach

We weren't on the mend.  I knew typing that would jinx us.  There was one last bout of puking on Chance's part, then I got sick over the weekend.  Now Keen is feeling bad, too.  This is like sneaker flu.  You think it's over and then it comes creeping back after you've eaten something tasty yet awful.  I'm not even sure what day it is.  Lucky for all of us it's a furlough week from school.

Anyways, all I got is pictures. The day Chance was sick (and before I felt really bad) I worked on a project similar to the theme of the robot.  I wanted to try converting a water gun into something more steampunk. This is my first attempt at this sort of project so I had a few flubs along the way but it's all part of the learning process. I'd like to do more of these but now I know to consult friends who have more painting expertise than I.  I have a steampunk gun that I bought from an Etsy artist that is really well done and it has some lovely techniques that I don't know how to capture. Yet.

This is what I started with:

I painted the base in a brass color, which was my first flub. I should have done the base in iron oxide brown, then brass to get the antique look I was going for.

I painted all the bright orange sections in copper. I left the silver sections alone.

Then I added some leather and metal filigree.

Finally, I added a little silver to the plastic bottle and painted on copper bands to make it look more like antiqued glass.

I wanted to mount a scope on top, too, but I was having hardware issues and then stomach flu hit.  This is all just for fun.  Steampunk pieces can get a bit pricey and I wanted to come up with something at a little lower price point that is still fun to look at and handle.  What do you think?

              – wg