This week I got a lot of work done on my project, found a few more issues, and have revised my plan a bit for the final result. I still want the globe to function as a basic clock, so I was able to etch the hours along the equator of the globe. The laser etching looks really nice and clear! I assembled the ring together and attached some support pieces.
The ring is a bit bigger than I though it would be! 
The outer ring consists of 24 rectangular pieces
The ring looks great, but it was a lot more work than I thought it would be. To improve this, I’m going to make the continents out of glass and the oceans will be a wire frame of longitude and latitude line using copper wire. I need more copper wire to do this, so I’ve ordered some and it will be arriving within the next day. I imagine it will look more similar to the Unisphere in New York City when it’s done. Using the wireframe method also solves some problems of being able to easily solder the inside of the sphere.
I’ve started to make the continents and structure for the rest of the globe. Here is Antarctica below. I was able to using broken glass piece to get the basic shape, and then make a few cuts on some of the pieces to match the shape well.
I’m going ahead with making the wireframe structure for the rest of the globe. I’m also using cardboard as a really nice prototyping tool to get a sense for the size and curvature of the pieces I need to make.
Lower structure is assembled 
Cardboard aided design of South America
I’ve also been thinking about the inside of the globe with a lamp and rotating mechanism. I still think I can get everything done on time, although if I can’t I will have to put the rotating mechanism on hold until after the quarter is finished. I think the globe’s rotation is one of the best aspects of this project and hope to have it for the final presentation, but that is what I’ll have to cut out if making the structure takes too long.