Saturday, May 15, 2010

Akunoya

So, on to the akunoya project.

Let me first refer you to two excellent web pages:

I was planning on making a vertically striped akunoya, but I finally changed my mind for two reasons: the leader of our group thought it looked too much like circus tents, and, most of all, a vertically striped akunoya would imply much more sewing, which I won't really have time to do this summer.

So, I settled on this design:




I'm starting from this carport (hey, it's free, so, even if the shape is not perfect, it will be good enough for us this year!)


I was planning on making a whole new shell for it, but I can't locate suitable canvas locally and ordering it online would be costly. It's the first time we go there, we don't know if we're going to want to go again next year, and with the shape of this thing not being ideal for an akunoya, I'm not sure it's worth making a whole complete waterproof replacement cover for it just yet.

What I will do instead is buy cheap broadcloth and make a quick shell to go over the plastic. We'll be dry, and if the weather is nice we can raise the sides and just leave the fabric hang down. If we like it, next year I'll make a better one and reuse the fabric for garb :-)

4 comments:

  1. Yamamoto Morikazu here...

    We did the same thing.
    For the walls we used painters canvas. Paint it with exterior grade latex to the colors you want. Mix paint 50/50 water to paint. We painted striped on ours. We used the original roof and got tarps for the inside walls to go behind the painters canvas. Extra protection. Works great. looks great.

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    1. I prefer not to dilute the paint. Diluted paint doesn't keep to a defined line, it tends to creep away from where you put it before it dries, unless you draw the contours first with undiluted paint. It might also depend on the texture of the paint you're using. Mine was liquid enough to start with that I didn't feel the need to dilute it.

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  2. Hey, that's our Jinmaku!

    They're great - until the wind picks up and they're trying to fly sideways...

    So: How did your project end up?

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    1. Nice jinmaku :-D
      If you look elsewhere through the blog, you'll see pictures of it finished.
      I sold it to my group this year because it was taking space and now I'm so busy with taiko I doubt I'll ever use it again.
      There's not much wind where we use it. One year I threw ropes over it and staked them down on either side, for extra insurance.

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