At the Titanic ice competition this year in Branson, MO, I did just what I did last year, but I got different results. Not in the sense that I carved the same sculpture, but I had the same approach as I did last year, which was to show up largely unprepared and see what I could do. Last year, it worked out pretty well and I earned third place and $1000 with a silver medal. This year, I took sixth place and only $250 with a low bronze score. If this is a trend, then it’s going in the wrong direction. Time to take a look at what I can do better.

    My design idea still seems like it was pretty good; it appeared to have been well received. The major problems were pretty obviously in my unpracticed execution of the idea. Now if I had a sense that the basic design was bad, then I might start over from scratch the next time. But I think I can make some major improvements in the end product, so I’m going to evaluate my design, address any deficiencies I can find, work on a solid plan for its execution, and try this sculpture again at another event (other than Branson.)

    The basic concept, of course, is a lionfish. I’ve carved a lionfish once before, but it was about 18 years ago and I can honestly say that I was not good enough to attempt a lionfish at that point. You pretty much cannot carve a decent lionfish without doing a lot of welding and I just did not have enough welding skill back then. If I remember correctly, my design was pretty bad too. But I can also remember being pretty excited about trying that first lionfish, so it’s interesting to kind of revisit my past and also to see how far I’ve progressed.

    The problems in my execution were many. I’ll just list a few to get things rolling. Execution problems:

1. 1)wasted a lot of time
   

2. 2)freehanded a lot of things that should have been templated
   

3. 3)left a lot of slush on the piece
   

4. 4)didn’t cut the struts on the pectoral fins/spines
   

5. 5)dorsal spine breakage problems (and resulting lack of detailing)
   

6. 6)minor issue with welding the fish to the “reef”
   

7. 7)welding problems with the pectoral fins/spines
   

8. 8)pectoral fins/spines ended up too close to the body
   

And some minor design problems:

1. 1)few extra “details” on the reef
   

2. 2)fish position could have been more dynamic
   

I’m sure the judges could come up with some more issues, but I feel like I’ve got plenty to start with as it is.

    The first thing to do is to come up with a template. That will pretty much address execution problems 1 and 2 and would have helped a lot with 3 and 4. I needed to get on site earlier too, and that would have helped my time wasting issue, but I ran into some unforeseen delays on the way to the the site. Generally, I’d like to be onsite two hours before a competition starts and perhaps a little earlier if I have to set up a tent, especially in windy conditions, which was the case in Branson.

    To deal with execution problems 5 and 6, all I’d probably have to do is change around my carving sequence. The dorsal spine breakage problems mainly resulted from a weld breaking repeatedly. If I could have gotten a better weld by welding when the ice was colder earlier in the competition (temps were well above freezing by the end of the competition), then I probably could have eliminated this problem. Ditto for number 6; I should have done it earlier, especially with a big weld like the fish to the reef. In fact, I pretty much bungled that whole part: at one point I actually slipped and dropped the fish. The only reasons it didn’t break were that it hit the platform instead of the parking lot and it was still pretty rough-cut and sturdy.

    Problems 7 and 8 need only a bit of practice to eliminate. You could say I’ve already gotten that practice, but it wouldn’t hurt to try it again before my next attempt so that it’s fresh. The welding problems in number 7 were pretty much due to my failure to properly isolate the weld surfaces. Basically, surrounding ice kept my weld surfaces from matching up properly the first time. Also, if I’d gotten number 8 right, 7 might not have come up at all. To fix 8, all I’d have to do is change the weld angle on the fins/spines so that they stick out more from the body.

    Finally, I can start fixing the design problems fairly easily while I’m working on the template. And if I’m able to fix the execution problems, I’ll probably have plenty of time to carve little details into the reef that will score more points with the judges.

    Next: On to part 2: redesign and template