Hard to believe it's concrete!

We make most of our projects out of fibreglass reinforced concrete. The process is relatively simple but requires highly skilled labour. This is the best medium we've found to make extremely detailed and durable features which are one of a kind. We first weld up the steel armatures. This is a critical step as the frames determine the final shape of the piece. We then hand tie galvanized steel lath onto the pencil rod frames. This is a very labour intensive step which involves lots of skill and patience (and a few band-aids). This process certainly is a lot harder than it looks. Then we trowel a thick coat of fibreglass reinforced concrete ono the lath. This step takes a lot of practice.  

The custom mix of concrete mud is laid on from the top of the piece downwards, hanging the new mud on the old. This is allowed to set up until it is at a perfect stage for carving. Everyone seems to have a different preference as to when the perfect time is. Then the sculptors need to work quickly, carving at the same are the mud was applied. We use a variety of tools, many specifically made for the type of carving we are doing. Woodgrain uses different tools than rock. Stone and rock finishes are different tools again. We are striving for a believable but fantastical look in our sculptures. We are visually telling a story after all.     

Today we 'mudded' three features and sculpted them to look like aged crates and a barrel. Each is slightly 'cartoonized' and fun. Skillfully applied paint and glazes will bring out their full character and detail after the concrete has a chance to cure. Say tuned...

Corrections on the fly

One of the good things about posting photos of our projects each day is that our customers can follow the progress from afar. On the rare occasion something is amiss, things can be quickly and easily corrected while changes are still easy. The features we are currently building are for an adventure golf with each piece to be placed on a specific hole. I inadvertently miss-numbered the lantern piece yesterday but within minutes of my posting our client contacted me with a correction. This morning it was an easy fix to cut a new number and replace the number ten with a numeral three. Our customers love to watch their pieces come together and we appreciate the constructive input along the way to make sure everything is perfect. We also finished the armature for the log feature today complete with a heavy duty cross cut saw.

Let there be light

It's fun to rummage through our parts bins and scrap steel to come up with most of the pieces I needed to build a lantern for a mini golf hole marker. The rest of the steel shapes I needed were quickly cut on the CNC plasma cutter from bits of scrap steel plate. The lantern needed to be extremely sturdy for guests who will interact with the feature will be carrying golf clubs and often aren't afraid to use them.Once complete the steel sculpture was welded to the frame of the stump armature. It won't go anywhere. The stump will be sculpted with fibreglass reinforced concrete.