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
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.
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.
Next, we hand sanded to make sure the statue is smooth and all details are showing.
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.
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???
To see some of our foam cutting and machining projects visit our website www.wecutfoam.com Visit our artist's website Paul Gonzalez Studio