Post #706383 by MadDogMike on Fri, Jan 31, 2014 3:24 PM

The Polynesian Feral Pig (Sus scrofa) seen here in it's adopted tropical habitat. He looks a bit uneasy, maybe he has heard rumor that he is to be the "guest of honor" at the next luau :lol:

I decided I wanted a near-life-sized boar in my tropical garden. A ceramic sculpture would have been a fun challenge for me with lots of texturing and glazing opportunities. But I don't have access to a kiln 3 feet long so I decided on concrete over foam with ceramic tusks and eyes. Years ago I picked up a truckload of free Styrofoam blocks and made a vertical heated wire cutter and a horizontal heated wire cutter to work with it. I started with four blocks of foam, each 6x6x34 inches.

I'm not so good at freehanding such things, so I found 3D CAD images of a boar a gridded it out onto the foam blocks.

I cut it out with the heated wire.

Cut all four pieces and glued them together.

Then took a SurForm rasp and finished sculpting the shape. The ceramic tusks and eyes each have a large peg formed onto them to embed them into the Styrofoam.

Here's where I veered off into uncharted waters having never done concrete sculpture before. I mixed up some mortar mix to the consistency of a thick milkshake and started spreading it on the foam (in the kitchen of course :lol: ) It covered the horizontal surfaces easily (back & top of head) but was difficult to make it stick to the sides. I ended up just smearing it on the sides, enough to get a thin coating. After this mortar was set, I applied another layer. The next layer was easier to apply, the dry rough concrete of the previous coat allowed the second coat to stick better. I used the second layer to build up some details on the face. Total thickness of the mortar mix was about 1/4 to 1/2 inch.

After the mortar mix cured for a day, I put on a final coat to smooth and color the boar. I used Quikcrete Vinyl Patching Compound which contains very fine sand and adhesion additives. I added 1/4 cup of Quikrete Charcoal Liquid Cement Color to 8 cups of the dry mix and enough water to make a thin slurry, about the consistency of cream of wheat. I spread it on with my hands then used a large paint brush to smooth it out. After the patching mix had set for a little while, I used a stiff brush to make some hair texture on the top of the head and down the middle of the back.

At some point I will put a concrete sealer on it. Since the pigment is embedded in the concrete and the ceramic is glazed he should look good in my garden for years to come

Edit - updated top picture

When you hurry through life, you just get to the end faster.
Pirate Ship Tree House

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2014-02-09 08:18 ]