MAGIC KINGDOM
“魔法王国”酒店标识大改造
In and around Orlando’s Walt Disney World resort, the appearance and theming of signs, as well as material selections, colors, engineering and installation methods, are all governed – strictly – by the Mouse, via The Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID).
在奥兰多迪士尼度假胜地周围，所有建筑标识的颜色、外观、主题，以及材料的选择、设计、安装都受到RCID的严格管理。
The RCID is the immediate governing jurisdiction for the land Disney occupies in Florida plus a few other occupants of its 39 sq. miles, including gas stations, restaurants and hotels. With more than 145,000 hotel rooms, Orlando has the second-highest number of rooms in the nation – right behind Vegas. And the Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace is where our story begins.
RCID是对当地迪士尼，以及其他39平方英里的加油站，餐馆和酒店的的居民，行使直接管辖权的立法管辖区。奥兰多地处拉斯维加斯后方，拥有超过145000间酒店客房数量，位于全国第二高，我们就是为这里的希尔顿酒店打造新标识的。
A major hotel renovation was underway, including a 12 x 18-ft. sign for the new Shades Pool Bar and Restaurant to be mounted on a rooftop parapet high above the crowd.
酒店标识的翻新，主要用于新的Shades泳池酒吧和餐厅，大小是12×18英尺，安装在屋顶的护栏上。
When we learned the owners requested neon, we jumped at the chance to work on this project. Requests for neon have dwindled in recent years, but no matter how good other lighting sources are, there’s nothing quite like exposed neon tubing to get you excited! So we called in fellow Orlandoan Randy Whitt at South Atlantic Neon, one of the last remaining neon shops in central Florida.
当知道业主要求使用霓虹灯时，我们欣然接下了这个项目。虽然近几年霓虹灯的市场逐渐缩小，但是无论其他光源多么好都达不到霓虹灯的效果。于是我们召集了佛罗里达州中部最后一家霓虹灯店的员工，我们的同事兰迪•怀特，来和我们一起做这个项目。
This sign was to read “SHADES” in 40-in.tall, 8-in. deep, reverse aluminum channel letters. The letters were deeply dimensional but were non-lit, as double-stroke 15mm turquoise glass would be installed on the teal letter faces, outlining the letter shapes.
这个标识“SHADES”高40英寸，深8英寸，是反面用铝型材制成的槽型发光字。这些字母没有直接从内部点亮，而是在双面轮廓上镶嵌了15毫米的绿松石玻璃。
Sitting behind the letters was a giant 6 x 16-ft. pair of Wayfarer shades. These sunglasses were fabricated as a 5-in.-deep welded aluminum cabinet, featuring single stroke, 15mm horizon blue neon tracing the outer shape. The lenses themselves were cut out and backed with translucent white Lexan with teal vinyl accents. The interior of the cabinet was lit with bright white Hanley LEDs. The glasses were tilted at an angle and would soon be mounted proud of the parapet roofline, requiring a 2-in. aluminum, square tube framework to support the weight and the increased wind load of these massive spectacles.
字母后面是一副6×16英尺的太阳眼镜，整体框架由5英寸深的铝型材焊接制成，由15毫米的蓝色霓虹灯点缀轮廓表面。镜面使用白色半透明的Lexan材料，配上蓝绿色贴膜,用明亮的白色Hanley LED点亮。眼镜倾斜地安装在屋顶的护栏顶部，用2英寸的铝制框架支撑它的重量。
With artwork approved and engineering complete, we hit our first snag. Apparently RCID has a fire regulation that Lexan panels cannot exceed 20 sq. ft. in size. Problem was, each lens was 27 sq. ft. So new drawings, new engineering and a disappointing conversation with the client reduced the overall sign to 11 x 17 ft. Not a huge difference, but it delayed us a couple weeks.
随着项目的批准和工程的进行，我们遭遇的第一个障碍是RCID规定的，Lexan面板的尺寸不能超过20平方英尺。然而我们每一个镜框的设计，都是27平方英尺，经过和客户的沟通，我们制定了新图纸，将标识尺寸调到11×17英尺。虽然没有太大区别，但是耽误了我们几个星期的时间。
Eventually, our permit was approved and fabricators Steve Pass and Tony Johnson jumped to the task. A cool feature of the sign was that the “S, H, and A” had to maintain the same depth as the rest of the “SHADES” letters, but they were sitting atop the 5-in.-deep sunglass cabinet! Steve created custom dimensional letters that keyed in flawlessly with the glasses Tony was building. All was progressing smoothly until we picked up the neon and quickly realized someone (who shall remain nameless), sent the original large sign pattern to the neon shop instead of the approved smaller one; $1,600 was down the toilet! That’s one thing about neon … once it’s pumped, there’s no changing it.
终于，制造商史蒂夫•帕斯和托尼•琼斯开始动工了。标识的一个特别之处是，字母“S, H,和A”虽然安装在5英寸深的镜框里，但是保持着和其他字母相同的深度！史蒂夫制造的字母和托尼建造的眼镜完美的匹配在一起。项目进展过程中，有人将之前大尺寸的标识模型，误发给了霓虹灯制造商，导致霓虹灯和我们制作的标识完全不匹配，这个失误使我们损失了1600美金！在此我建议制造商，在制作标识项目时，每一个尺寸都要仔细测量和核对，以避免任何失误和不必要的损失。
Meanwhile, the letters and shades were complete and in the paint department. Rene Mendez and Greg Berry smoothed and prepped all seams and minor imperfections and began with spraying Non-Chromate Etch Primer on all surfaces, then laid down two full-color coats of Matthews Urethane finished with Matthews Super Satin Clearcoat.
与此同时，字母和眼镜的标识已经制作完工，开始准备喷油漆了。雷内•门德斯和格雷格•贝里对标识上的接缝，以及小缺陷的地方做了处理。他们先在表面上喷涂Non-Chromate底漆，然后在涂好彩漆的标识表面，喷涂Matthews超级缎面清漆，使标识看起来更光滑。
The smaller neon was now ready, and we carefully mounted it to the sign. Then we unmounted it all to avoid damage during transport to the hotel.
我们小心翼翼的把新霓虹灯放在标识上，查看效果之后卸载，以免运输到酒店的过程中损坏它。
Installation day came along with a Snorkel TB80 boom lift to place the sign on the bar rooftop. With limited space, the lift could get the sign on the roof but not into installation position. With lead installer Ben Sawinski and fabricators Steve and Tony on ladders, we hoisted the giant sunglasses and installed them using brute force and some well-placed, pre-drilled all-thread mounting holes. Conveniently, the sign mounted to a rooftop electrical room and the back was easily accessible to complete the install with washers and bolts. Once the sign was in place, the neon was reinstalled and both neon transformers and LED power supplies were installed on the electrical room interior wall, and the install was complete in one day!
到了安装的那一天，我们带来一个TB80升降梯，放置标识牌。由于使用空间有限，梯子可以帮我们在屋顶上取到标识，但不能直接放置到安装的位置。安装人员本•萨文思奇和制造商史蒂夫、托尼站在梯子上，我们把这副“巨型眼镜”吊起来，借助强力和一些已经布置好的螺纹安装孔进行安装。标识和屋顶的电气室成功的连接在一起，用垫圈和螺丝安装好接口部分，就可以很方便的使用了。标识安装到位后开始安装霓虹灯，霓虹灯变压器和LED电源都安装在电气室内壁。整个标识的安装工程，一天就完成了！
The client was blown away by their beautiful new sign and all was well.
客户被漂亮的新标识吸引，一切都很完美。
That is, until RCID failed us on our final inspection, but that’s a story for another time.
RCID会对项目进行最终检查，如果没能达到它的标准，我们将会继续完善这个标识。
