I'm actually fairly far along now, the bottom portion has already been soldered, and most of the middle has been washed and copper foiled. I haven't foiled any of the sky yet, I decided to cut the pieces out, but I still need to mark and either cut or drill the joints for the clear nuggets which will act as stars.
I have yet to cut the top, but before I do I'll need to foil again. It's important to foil as you go; even though the copper foil is...ahem...foil thin, it adds up and can force the piece to grow, so foiling needs to be done intermittently so any growth can be corrected before it's too late.
My next steps are to cut and place the nuggets (hee hee, I love/hate the fact that they're called "nuggets"). I've probably waited too long to do that, and want to make sure I cut for them before I get too much farther, just in case something goes horribly wrong. After that I'll foil what I've gotten done so far, before cutting the rest.
So there you have it! My next post will most likely focus on foiling, I'd like to move on this fairly quickly, my goal is to have this panel finished and set in its frame by September...and we all know how well my plans work out...
