craschworks

How to make a http://www.sculpture.net/community/showthread.php?t=8063&highlight=inflatable>life size whale

me and my girlfriend worked for a theming companies for many years, and we have done a lot of outdoor work imitating textures in general.

whale skin is full of texture – this should be taken in mind. my girl friend should be really writing since she has done many life sized african elefants this way.

the way we generally – or theming for outdoor purposes in generally do it – i supose there is variation.. but here we go;

you will need;

* tixotropic mortar
* chikenwire mesh – galvanized
* rebaring
* lots of thick steel wire
* big blocks of styrofoam – higher density means harder work but also more resistant end results.
* PU-foam

different tools for carving the tixotropic mortar (this mortar is carved when still wet but solidifying – its like working thick wet sand..) and the tixotropic part means it can bear its own weigth – meaning its easy to aply a thickness of mortar up to several inches (up to 10 cm at times).

step by step;

* if necesary “glue” blocks of styrofoam together with PU-foam. use rods to hold the styrofoam in place while PU-foam expands.

* carve styrofoam (use hot-wire, chainsaws or what ever to quickly remove materia, use sharp filet knifes to carve fine work. carpet knifes, stanley knifes etc can work too. don exadgerate on detail at thsi moment – but make clear where u have ur things.

*while carving have in mind everything will get about 5-10 cm thicker when done!!

*when done carving, cover with rebaring structure – weld and get HELP from profesionals if necesary. styrofoam burns easy. have in mind where the biggest amounts of mortar will be – re-inforce where necesary.

*when done with structure cover the whole lot with chicken wire net, cutting it into pieces, folding, hitting with mallets etc – to get the wire into the depths of the carved whale (in this case – mouth – eyes etc u kno w what i mean)

* hold wire in place with U-shaped pieces of stiff metal wire. pierce thru netting into styrofoam.

*do not aply too many layers of netting since this will make it later dificult for the mortar to penetrate

*aply one base coat of mortar to all of the structure. if you have to do it in steps – wet the dry parts well before adding new wet mortar on top. do NOT let dry quickly since this makes ugly cracks.

*step by step aply a thick coat to parts as big as you can carve/model in 4-5 hours go.

*when done modelling and carving – aply texture with brushes or what ever to imitate the cracks and scars in the skin of a whale (only if you are after realizm)

*paint with mineral paints resistant to UV-light.

well – thats one way to do it.. there is many other too i bet