8
Jul
Theme Park Bronze Statue – Alfie the Adventureland Long Island Mascot
Honoring a theme park anniversary with a custom sculpted bronze style statue!
“Adventureland Long Island has always held a special place in my heart. Growing up my family would visit our local theme park several times a year. My dad loved it and would take us on the antique cars over and over so we kids could “drive.” As I got old enough to visit without parents, it became a hang out for me and my (well behaved, I promise!) friends. The arcade was pretty state of the art in the 80’s and the rides were great. Still are! I was thrilled when we got in touch and the idea of doing something with their mascot for the park was suggested!” – Tom
A few concepts were bounced around. At the time, the park was celebrating its 60th anniversary and ultimately we arrived at the idea of making a bronze-style life-sized monument to their mascot, Alfie. This would be a 6′ tall, faux bronze statue, made using a mixture of techniques. The initial design work would be done in the digital realm. Sean Fields digitally sculpted the character with input from the family that owns the park. Working in that way made it easy for us to make changes and get the sculpture on-model for the park’s team. It also let us try out different poses and give the client an easy way to visualize different looks.
Once the 3D work was complete, a small maquette was printed as a proof-of-concept and to test our fittings for output. With some hand paint, that small model looked quite convincing! We then moved to full scale, outputting the figure in such a way that we could cast a fiberglass head and create a heavy, foam-filled resin body. Welded steel armature was run through the figure and locked him securely to his cement pedestal. We gave the life-sized Alfie statue a faux bronze paint treatment and automotive clearcoat for maximum durability, being sure to check the coloring in daylight since that’s where he’ll be spending his time.
This project was a group effort by the whole team. Pierre Briel led the body welding and assembly with Patrick Louie crafting the head and paint work by Tom, Melissa Ocampo and others… many other team members contributed their efforts. Special thanks to James Powell for the oversized print assist! We’re very proud to have a bit of our work in a local park that’s very special to us!
Are you looking for a unique gift to honor someone special? Email or call today and let’s discuss your project!
Want to learn more about Rick Baker’s 40-plus-year journey as a special makeup effects artist?
