I was asked by the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to create a huge bulldog as a surprise for the commander. We decided to make it from 3lb EPS foam with a weatherproof epoxy shell. It would be painted with a faux rust finish.
The foam block for this carving was humongous! The final dog was slated to be about 5 feet tall, 6 feet long, and 3 feet wide.
I roughed everything out, then refined the carving in preparation for the epoxy coat.
Next, we applied the epoxy coat. The epoxy hardens within 10 minutes of mixing, so it took many, many small batches to coat the whole dog.
Then we moved on to painting the rust coat…
Once the rust was activated and a clear coat applied, we drove it up to Delaware in the bed of my truck. It created quite a stir on the road and at every gas station! Several times on the highway I noticed people tailgating me or craning their phones to get a picture.
Miciah and the dog are having a word…
Our client also asked about having a miniature bulldog made, in a size that the commander could take home with him. My oldest son, Miciah, took this project over and carved the dog himself. This is the first piece Miciah has carved! He roughed out the dog’s body in foam, and then sculpted the head with epoxy clay, and painted it with special effects rust paint to match the bigger dog.
Thanks for looking! If you have an idea for a custom pet memorial, head over to my contact page and get in touch!
