The Pibble: A Heavy Start

This statue started as a test. I wanted to see if I could take a multi-piece print, glue it up, and end up with something much larger, something solid. The Warg was still in its early stages, but this one, the Pibble, came first. I didn't document it at the time more than taking photos. I was primarily working through the process. Printed, assembled, molded, cast. Now that I've run through the entire sequence, it makes sense to start talking about it.

The first full casting of the head was done in standard 5000 psi concrete for countertops, poured and vibrated in the mold, just to see what I was dealing with. I've made many thick pieces of concrete tiles for walls and floors using this mix and was confident that it would be an inexpensive and durable material to use for a larger statue. Heavy. That was my first thought. Back then, I wasn't working with GFRC yet, so this was all just traditional mix, filled to the top, compacted on a vibrating table, with an internal vibrator to settle things in. The result? A solid, weighty piece that proved the concept- and the spikes held up. That was a question in the back of my mind: would they shear off or survive the de-molding? They held.

A few months outside, the concrete took on its own patina. Some light weathering, a bit of character settling in. The raw, unsealed surface started to show its texture, and it felt right. Heavy and stoic. A good proof-of-concept before taking the next steps.

Where This Is Going

Future posts will cover the urethane mold, the fiberglass shell, the GFRC casting process, and the other details of the process relevant to this project. Il'l break it down into sections from mold-making with vacuum formed HDPE locking tabs, to testing welded steel reinforcement for the final installation. But for now, here's where it started.

And, of course, the inspiration behind it all: Lola.

A couple of months outside

80 pounds of freshly cast concrete

LOLA