Protect the whales

Before leaving to sea last time, I cast two more drafting whales, so I had a full dozen. Once I had done that I painted all of them. First a coat of primer and then followed up by a classic tractor colour: Massey Ferguson light grey.
That made the whales look nice and grey, but I was aiming higher!
I found a bit of white and painted eyes on all of them, and finally a little black made the pupils. I made a couple of whales that were "concentrating" on the task, and I also made a couple of whales who were rolling their eyes.

Since I wasn't going to use the drafting whales a lot, (and because I like making boxes), I decided on making a dedicated storage box so the whales could be protected between the jobs.

I dovetailed a little chest, and glued in a couple of strips to hold up the bottom.
The bottom was fitted with pie shaped compartments, to keep the whales apart to protect them from rubbing against each other.
A loose upper part was made the same way, but not glued in, now the chest could hold all 12 drafting whales.

A set of handles were mortised into the ends of the chest.

I also found a piece of larch wide enough to form the lid, but that was as far as I got that time, so I still need to make a lid and mount it.
Originally my plan was to paint the chest in some sort of marine inspired theme, but so far I would be happy if I just got the project completed.

There are as usual a lot of different projects requiring my attention, and this box is not very high up on the list. Instead stuff like getting the old Volvo Valp through MOT and installing tiles on the roof of the barn near the summer house are top priority. In addition to this there are a couple of confirmations (one of them is Asgers), and two limousine "jobs" with the Volvo Valp for my nephew and for Laura's prom dance.
But at least the whales are all done now :-)

Drafting whales in action.

This little fellow just about had enough.

Holding a batten in place  

Drafting whale storage box.