Penguin.. Need Help Please

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Ok, First off, this is gonna be a christmas gift for my girlfriend, she LOVES penguins...  being the typical 16 year old, im broke.  Lucky ive got some metal workin skills and with them i want to try and kinda make a penguin in welding class, somthin that cant be bought (too corny?)I found this image on google and what i want to do is take a piece of thin sheet metal (bout the size of a piece of paper) and cut out the eyes, mouth (not the whole beak thing, just the mouth line, then cut out the arms,  bend them forward and have it hold another piece of sheet metal that has "Braska" (her name, duh...) cut into it.. I plan on doing this on the plasma but im just looking for some better ideas, hints, tips and/or tricks..  Anything you see wrong with my idea... also, ill clean it up real good and give my drawing skills a shot on colourin it the most i can.. that or print out that picture and make a stencil     Thanks alot guys.
Reply:Nothing wrong with the plan at all guy. Big test of the finer skills is all. Something I'd never pull off. The paint will need time to set good so get with it now!!!Good luck.BTW, if ya need a few whacks with a four pounder, let me know. That's the sum total of my ability.
Reply:thanks for the replie.. little confused on the the finer skills part and the four pounder?  Either way, thanks for the encouragment.
Reply:I think the four pounder means his sledge hammer lol....Ole sandy and I kinda come from the old school...if it dont fit hit it with a hammer....if it still dont fit, get a torch...if that aint fixin it...get a bigger hammer IF it Catches...Let it Burn
Reply:ahhh.. yes, the hammer... thats how alot of things go in shop class, teacher aint to big on it though, says it doesnt build any skills
Reply:little confused on the the finer skills part
Reply:hell no it dont...the torch work sure do though.   I presonally would prefer the torch...not as loud as the hammerprolly hte main reason ole teach dont like the hammer either.  But when in doubt the ole hammer sure does vent some frustrations!IF it Catches...Let it Burn
Reply:just figured I should let you know...that image is Tux.  The Linux penguin.  Just in case you do build it and someone asks her what distribution of Linux she runs
Reply:I am a redhat/fedora user, but they pretty much all work fine. I have used debian and mandrake also, but have gotten used  to redhat's tools.Dirt, you might want to look on some of the linux sites for promotional products for cheap or free.  I used to get free t-shirts all the time.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:smith...I'm more of a jblinux/slackware man myself
Reply:I see all kinds of possibilities for penguin art for you. When I first saw that picture I pictured something 3 dimensional with the penguin body in the back and the feet several inches to the front. Connect the feet to the body with pieces of 1/4" rod.That could then be a holder for small pieces of mail. You could also put penguins back to back (spaced about 2+ inches apart) and use it as a napkin holder on the kitchen table.Make a bigger napkin holder and it can become a magazine rack.Then you can always go the yard art route and have a family of penguins.You could also make the body 3 dimensional. I envision the white body being one piece (the back piece) . Leave 3 or 4 tabs around the edge to bend over to weld the next piece (the black body part) to. Tack two tabs for the eyes and make them stand off too. Then rods/tabs out to the feet. Even 1/2" between the two main body parts might look cool. then put the feet out far enough to make the whole thing stable.Hobbiest hack
Reply:Ok, Woah.. whats with this Lunix stuff or whatever guys?  Im lost...Dave.. I hate you.. i had a nice simple idea and now you just injected my mind with steriods.. thanks bud...just playin man...
Reply:http://www.linux.org/ http://www.redhat.comLinux is a type of operating system for a computer (like windows only better :P).  It's a variant of Unix which is more difficult to learn and use than windows but which is much more powerful in certain ways than windows.  It is also much more customizable than windows and more flexible.  Ohh, and did I mention that it is free?
Reply:I want linux but im stupid.   Im soo stupid my brother installed I think it wass redhat once...biggest mistake of my life.  Oh dont get me wrong I loved it for all it was worth.  But when my brother was mad at me, he unistalled something.  For the lfie of Me I couldnt reinstall it.  So I had to kiss his @ss to his liking so hed reinstall it.  Hes growd up now and not such a prick...but he also has failed to do much with his life and I dont think really knws his head from his butt with regards to the unix software. I wish I knew it.  But thats why some men mop the floor.  Some men build the buildings.  Some men design the building.  and some men sit up in a high office and tell all the rest how he wants it all done.  YupIF it Catches...Let it Burn
Reply:Dirt,Linux is a Microsoft Windows competitor, if there really is such a thing right now.  Look up linux on google and see the millions of sites.  Pinguins are everywhere.Chris,Linux is a little more difficult than windows, i.e., if windows is the only operating system you have ever used, it is a shocker.  I know I have mentioned several times that I am a cheap a$$ ba$tard, so keep that in mind.  The reason I started messing with linux was for the network servers (programs like what we are using right now to post to this forum) that come pre-loaded with most distributions, which are mostly free.  In windows, these tools cost thousands, or used to until folks at microsoft got wind of linux.  I administer several webservers and file servers that run linux and have been running for years without much more than hardware upgrades.  I have used the stuff from slackware and walunt creek, but for the stuff I do, the pre-canned stuff works just fine...great even.  I bet even Wintermute would admit that once you get used to installing/compiling and the rigid file structure, things get pretty easy.  The only real bad thing about linux is the lack of a standard interface among programs (different programmers have different ideas about how stuff should look)...but windows suffers from this to some extent also, so....OK...now we've gone from welding to linux...just to bring the conversation full circle, there are lots of automation tools for process engineering that you can get for linux for free off freshmeat.net.  There are also several cad-like programs.  In fact, the thing I love about linux is the sheer number of specialized tools you can get for practically anything under the sun.Last edited by smithboy; 12-19-2005 at 09:40 AM.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:Smith,I definetely think that Linux is better than windows overall, and once you get used to it, it is definetely more sensible to use (file system makes more sense, user sandboxing, etc...).  For most normal home users I would recommend it as something to try since they may end up liking it more, and it will definetely train them to understand their system better.  By the way, I used to be a linux network and systems admin as well as a PHP/PERL programmer doing alot of work with MySQL etc...  Ohh, and I was one of the core contributors to JBLinux
Reply:Don't mean to get off track but you could cut the body and feet seperately and connect them with thin rod you coiled around a piece of tube like a spring.
Reply:Wintermute,That's pretty cool.  I have heard of JBlinux, but I have to admit, I havent used it (next project...JBlinux home office machine).  I use php and mysql also.  At 10's of thousands of dollars for Oracle, the decision to use mysql was a real no-brainer, though I have given some consideration to other free or nearly free db's.  I am not a big-time programmer, but I do a bit of it in my job.  I actually got interested in linux on a lark.  I never really cared for using computers (in the early 1990's), but my old high school decided to try to get internet access and build a webpage and was quoted an outragous price.  Not knowing the first thing about computers, I felt sure I could do better, and did.  Linux+apache+qmail and the school was online with email accounts and a webpage.  It took a few weeks to figure stuff out, but it got done.  They have since gone on to obtain a whole IT department, microsoft products along with staff and all, so I am only a footnote in the IT history of my old high school (probably not even that), but what they have now is pretty much the same as before, just more expensive and requiring more support...wink...wink.I have been running a production webserver here at work for 7 years on redhat and the only down time is stuff I caused.  Like my footer says, if it ain't broke....you ain't trying.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:Originally Posted by KEENAVVDon't mean to get off track but you could cut the body and feet seperately and connect them with thin rod you coiled around a piece of tube like a spring.
Reply:Sorry dirt,Our bad.  We computer nerds need a good beating every once in a while just to make us remember there ARE OTHER THINGS...especially given we are in a welding forum... "So....how is that pinguin going? Got any pictures yet?" he says to get back on topic.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:Dirt,  you aint been on this forum long enough to know not to even bother askin that question.. I do the forum thing on another forum too...and both of these,  although some of the same guys, a lot are differnt as well...one has more hobbyiest one has more do it for a living...and never fails I aint seen one thread that doesnt get off topic if it last for more than one page long...its just impossible not to get off topic cause these guys do it on the job... One guy says ,  hey whats going on today...next thing you know were takin about  scares and tatoos from long agoIF it Catches...Let it Burn
Reply:LoL, sorry if it sounded like i was gripein.. i wasnt.. Well i started it today, cutout the body, feet and flippers with the plasma, took the grinder to em and got them all prettied up and all..  Also, finished the template for the face.. tommorows my last day to work on it but ill be in there for 2 hours after school.. i should beable to get it done.. i hope.. I also plan on painting it.. any special kinda paint?  Just real thin sheet metal..
Reply:go with rustolum (sp) clean the metal first (real good)  make sure the piece is about room temp same with the paint other wise it wont adhear......prime nice then a few light coats of paint.....let set over night (room temp) then clear coat it....I was making some small critters for a garden center in the summer and the fabracation was the easy part....the paint always seemed to bust my stones -dawg
Reply:hey kid dont let these old farts like me discourage you  i think you have a great idea  use a plasma cutter and a welder a little paint and your girlfriend will love ya forever :-)  good idea now get with it
Reply:Lol, finished it today, im happy.. not the nicest thing in the world but its cool.. weldin was a bitch thought.. burn through like a mofo and the torch wasnt getting along with me today.  Metal used is paper thin, hard to get some decent welds in.. just gotta go pick up some paint now.