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How We Fabricated Evil Knievel Foam Sculpture Prop


At the end of September we were contacted by a customer who wanted to produce a 6' tall Evel Knievel statue for a restaurant. The prop was to resemble a bronze statue, yet foam is much cheaper and lighter, hence easier to handle. The customer supplied us with a 3D CAD file as a reference

3D cad file for creating Evil Knievel foam sculpture prop for a Pizza restaurant
foam sculpture CAD file

We used high density polyurethane foam which we machined on a 5 Axis CNC router machine. We machined the statue parts separately -

The head, then the torso, 2 hands with a helmet, 2 legs and the base.

Then, we glued all the parts together to create the whole statue.

Foam sculpture head of Evil Knievel cnc machined from High Density Urethane foam
Evil Knievel machined head prop
Foam sculpture head of Evil Knievel cnc machined from High Density Urethane foam
Evil Knievel head prop
Foam sculpture parts of Evil Knievel cnc machined from High Density Urethane foam
Evil Knievel sculpture machined
Foam sculpture parts of Evil Knievel cnc machined from High Density Urethane foam
Evil Knievel sculpture parts

We inserted rods through the legs and all the way to the torso.

We also inserted a rod connecting between the legs and the base.

These rods will serve as support to make the statue stronger.

Foam sculpture parts of Evil Knievel cnc machined from High Density Urethane foam
Evil Knievel sculpture parts

Next, we hand sanded to make sure the statue is smooth and all details are showing.

Foam sculpture of Evil Knievel cnc machined from High Density Urethane foam and hard coated
Evil Knievel coated foam sculpture
Foam sculpture of Evil Knievel cnc machined from High Density Urethane foam and hard coated
Evil Knievel coated foam sculpture

We then coated it with Polyurea hard coat which serves as a great protective layer.

For applying the hard coat we used a Graco reactor spray system.

The hard coat material resembles plastic and is durable on any foam project for life.

It is great for multiple use projects, protecting from water damage, humidity, sun and corrosion damages.

Foam sculpture of Evil Knievel cnc machined from High Density Urethane foam polyurea hard coated
Polyurea coated foam sculpture

Our very talented artist Paul prepped and primed the sculpture so that the paint would stick well to the Polyurea coating. Once the piece was painted, it showed the spots that needed some extra sanding. After sanding we primed the areas one more time. Now we were ready for the paint. We used the "Modern Masters Metallic" Faux Bronze paint to get as close as possible to a bronze finish.

Paul used three different colors :

A highlight - for brightness

A mid tone - for the main body

A dark tone - for the inner areas.

We used soft bristle brush that laid the paint evenly per application. this is important so that the metal paint would lay nicely covering any texture.

On top of the paint we applied a clear coating as a final touch up.

Lots of effort goes into painting a piece like that, the key is paying attention to details and using the right tools and combinations.

The result - A stunning 6ft Bronze-like statue foam prop.

Can you tell it's made of foam and not bronze???

Foam sculpture of Evil Knievel cnc machined from High Density Urethane foam, hard coated and painted faux bronze
Evil Knievel painted sculpture
Foam sculpture of Evil Knievel cnc machined from High Density Urethane foam, hard coated and painted faux bronze
Faux bronze painted sculpture
Foam sculpture of Evil Knievel cnc machined from High Density Urethane foam, hard coated and painted faux bronze
Painted Evil Knievel sculpture
Foam sculpture of Evil Knievel cnc machined from High Density Urethane foam, hard coated and painted faux bronze
Painted Evil Knievel Sculpture
Foam sculpture of Evil Knievel cnc machined from High Density Urethane foam, hard coated and painted faux bronze
Painted Evil Knievel Sculpture

To see some of our foam cutting and machining projects visit our website www.wecutfoam.com Visit our artist's website Paul Gonzalez Studio


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