Tips on building a moai?

I've got a bunch of chicken wire and lumber...I've got a hankerin' to make a moai for the yard...I just want suggestions for the covering after I build my form...something all weather that looks like faux stone...Please kokua! Mahalo, Grey

I'm currently playing with foam carving in my spare time, I plan to carve a Moai and cover it with concrete. That is, if I ever get the time to do it. I just ordered a book called Making Concrete Garden Ornaments which will hopefully provide some insight into the process. I hope to turn my backyard into a Tiki garden eventually.

Patrick McNeal

[ Edited by: Biotron2000 on 2002-08-13 13:44 ]

Thanks for that book link!

As to the question, I have a small book on making pots and planters out of imitation stone. You add peat moss and and something else (?) to portland cement to give it texture. Then you can also stain it different colors. I have also been thinking of using this to make tikis, but small ones. My concern with a big one would be the cement staying in place while it dries.

I built one a while ago. We use chicken
wire and sota cut and bent it to get its shape made the nose a sperate piece then filled the hole thing with news paper after
that we poured fixall over it let it dry
spray painted it black, hung it on a wall
built a wisky barrel with lilis put a pump
in the barrel..fed a tube through the back
and out the mouth baaaadaaabing a water spitting moi...

good luck
Bambooh

Cover the form with strips of newspaper and plaster of paris (with a final coat or 2 of plaster). This stuff is very durable and I have built a few "Modern" abstract garden sculptures this way. After you build it up, you can then carve it back down and smooth out rough edges using different sized rasps and files.

I left my sculptures au natural - matte white with no sealer and they have held up pretty well against the elements. Since you won't want a matte white Moai the paint you use will add extra protection.

I have also used spray can acoustical texture - available at most hardware stores - to give a bumpy finish to paper mache and plaster projects. I believe it is intended for only indoor use, but as long as it is sealed with paint and/or sealer I see no reason no to use it outdors.

Good luck and be sure to post pictures of both the finish and work-in-progress.

Oh and if you build it this way - as in hollow - it will be a lot lighter than if you tried to fill it in. Plaster is lighter than concrete plus more forgiving if you need to make changes... subtractios or additions.

if outside, use Acroflex by Omega. Or is it Multitex by Omega. Both are acrylic stucco and will last for decades!!

Thanks for the great tips! Hopefully I'll post pics in a couple of weeks! Mahalo, Grey

I just came across this site (doing research for an Oct project).
Read about some of the props that they have built using their "Monster Mud" concoction- you could easily use this for a Moai sculpture.
terrorsyndicate.com

Chris

Thanks for the tip! Good stuff!...I can use this...Grey

How did this project turn out? Any pictures? Any tips you can share for the process?

OK, was it Chip or Andy that was digging through the basement archives to drag out this old post? (2002!) :)

Probably too late for ChiefGray's Moai, but a common technique to make concrete look like aged volcanic stone is to press rock salt into the concrete when it is wet, then wash the salt out when it cures. One caveat is that the salt washes into the surrounding soil and can make it difficult for plants to live nearby.

Is that pile of rubble on the left what's leftover after you carved that moai from a solid block of granite? :)

PS - nice view of Lake Erie

Well, was it Kismet? I am not sure, as I have no real idea what is Kismet. I do, however, like a good game of Yahtzee! As the fair Michelle and I were, as prospective buyers, perusing the wonderfully appointed and oh so reasonably-priced homes here in ole foggy Frisco town I came across...well, this:

At about a half-block away it was just a curiously shaped unrecognizable blur. As we approached it was one-half wonder and one-quarter disbelief combined with thirty percent bemusement at the sight of this Moai, uh, Chia Pet? We took it as a sign, yes, a sign from the tiki Gods. A sign of what, we're still contemplating, but it's a sign alright. Full of sturdy chicken wire goodness and over eight feet tall, this could be one hell of a lawn decoration.

I...want one,
Jumbo conforming midnite

On 2008-08-04 00:00, midnite_tiki wrote:
At about a half-block away it was just a curiously shaped unrecognizable blur. As we approached it was one-half wonder and one-quarter disbelief combined with thirty percent bemusement at the sight of this Moai, uh, Chia Pet? We took it as a sign, yes, a sign from the tiki Gods. A sign of what, we're still contemplating, but it's a sign alright. Full of sturdy chicken wire goodness and over eight feet tall, this could be one hell of a lawn decoration.

I...want one,
Jumbo conforming midnite

If you covered it in stucco that would make a killer chiminea!!!

I've been working with tufa. http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=29118&forum=7&8
I don't know if this is any help.

I once worked with a Maori girl named Tufa also, wonder if it's the same girl you worked with?... nice girl..

Emotionless and cold? Could be the same girl.