"Long have I desired to look upon the kings of old... my kin"

[Anzik]

Whats funny is that since I've started retro collecting the LOTR figures to complete the Fellowship when they're ready, I was thinking of an iconic scene for them. I had remembered a painting I saw many years ago of Gandalf seated in front of the Moria gate and thought of making a mold and casting it in plaster for that 'stoney' feel.
After seeing your work though I think it might feel like making a cardboard Mona Lisa.
Marcel, you have really raised the bar.

 

[Polylord]

Whats funny is that since I've started retro collecting the LOTR figures to complete the Fellowship when they're ready, I was thinking of an iconic scene for them. I had remembered a painting I saw many years ago of Gandalf seated in front of the Moria gate and thought of making a mold and casting it in plaster for that 'stoney' feel.
After seeing your work though I think it might feel like making a cardboard Mona Lisa.
Marcel, you have really raised the bar.

Thanks a lot for the compliment, Andy. Still, don't be hesitant to make your own stuff. I've seen the environments you made for the 12" 's, they are way cool You're quite the handyman yourself

 

[Batty]

Very nice work!

I've worked in stone a few times...it's not the easiest thing to do. I look forward to seeing your progress.

 

[Adoptedscot]

Awesome, simply awesome!!!!

I'm really pleased you have shared the progress on this, ive been looking forward to seeing it. Its looking fabulous.
The Moria sculpt is also stunning.

You are very talented Polylord, cant wait to see the further pictures of this one.

Shell
x

 

[Mooncat]

I'm afraid it's gonna take me one or two years in total to finish both statues, but it's gonna be worth it

I use about 30 different files from big to very small (to work out the details), a brush to brush away the dust and chips and a ruler to measure everything.

Yes, there is a small fear of something breaking off. It's almost impossible to repair something like that. That's why I wait with working on the hand some more, because it's gonna be a fragile piece. I'll do that in the very end.

Fortunately this is a pretty solid piece of stone, so the chance of something breaking off isn't that big, unless you use excessive force. But of course, I always try to be careful.

Understood but wouldnt it make sense to do the delicate stuff first so that if it unfortunately does break off you havent wasted too much time ? and can start again ?

 

[Polylord]

Understood but wouldnt it make sense to do the delicate stuff first so that if it unfortunately does break off you havent wasted too much time ? and can start again ?

Well yes and no. Doing the delicate stuff now would seriously limit me in the movements and the positions I can put the stone in while carving other parts. And yes, once I get to the final part of the statue (the hand probably) and it breaks off, then I'm gonna be very sad. But oh well, let's not be too negative about it. Good part is that it's a very solid rock, so I doubt that things will break off easily as long as I'm careful.

 

[Lembas Eater]

Fantastic job on both the Moria Gate and the Argonath WIP!!!! If something bad happens, perhaps you could slightly wear the rest of the piece as a sort of "Ruins of Middle Earth".

Which reminds me, I do wish SS would do a "Statues of LOTR" of all the statues, The handless dudes at Parth Galen, Helm Hammerhand from Helm's Deep, the Horse & Rider from Minas Tirith, and so on, etc.

 

[icruise]

I think it's possible to repair broken stone fairly easily, though, so it shouldn't be a huge problem even if it does break off.

 

[Polylord]

I think it's possible to repair broken stone fairly easily, though, so it shouldn't be a huge problem even if it does break off.

Well, depending on the crack, it would be possible to glue it back under certain circumstances, but the crack will always be visible.

 

[koipond]

I will totally admit that I haven't work with stone in 15+ years but I always had good luck with broken pieces( soapstone is a b*tch sometimes). I would glue it together then use stone dust collected from the shaping/filing I just did, mix it with epoxy, and slather it in any voids. It looks alittle sketch till you put wax on the finished item, then I could barely tell where it was.

 

[icruise]

Yeah, I had heard of people mixing stone dust with glue to hide the cracks. Certainly worth a try if it should be necessary.

 

[Polylord]

I will totally admit that I haven't work with stone in 15+ years but I always had good luck with broken pieces( soapstone is a b*tch sometimes). I would glue it together then use stone dust collected from the shaping/filing I just did, mix it with epoxy, and slather it in any voids. It looks alittle sketch till you put wax on the finished item, then I could barely tell where it was.

Ok thanks for the tip!

 

[Polylord]

Another update. Picture has been added on the first page. Sorry to say I didn't have a good quality camera with me to take pictures, that's why the picture turned out a bit "crappy" in my opinion.

 

[Zoomaround]

This is so cool of you to share your work-in-progress. I look forward to seeing more as you progress. Can't wait to see more pics. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Polylord]

And another update (picture added in the first post)

 

[Les Walker]

I hadn't said anything about this yet, but Polylord, this is one of my favorite projects going on here. What a gallant effort! I am impressed and intrgued all the while. It is fun watching this come out of the stone. Like Michelangelo said about his David,
"He is sleeping, within the stone, awaiting my chisel to release him!"
Same here.

Bravo so far!

:chew:chew:chew:chew

 

[Darren Carnall]

How the hell did I not see this thread until now? This is incredible.... I wouldn't even know where to start working with stone.. I'm still getting used to Sculpey and Milliput, but stone??

wow

This is looking amazing, I'm really looking forward to following this along as you get more and more done. Excellent stuff

Looking through those pictures of the progress makes me want to try stone now.

*voice in my head* "NO Darren... you have enough stuff to do already. Get on with that instead!"

 

[Polylord]

Wow Les and Darren, thanks for your kind words. It really means something to me when a true artist (because that's how I see you two, with the amazing sculpts you two can make!) compliments me on my work.

 

[Les Walker]

Wow Les and Darren, thanks for your kind words. It really means something to me when a true artist (because that's how I see you two, with the amazing sculpts you two can make!) compliments me on my work.

You are doing a great job. Deserving of praise. This is a scary idea for anyone, and to see it working, is amazing. Best of luck with it!

 

[abake]

Wow.
This is fantastic. Thank you so much for letting us witness how you bring forth the statues. Simply amazing talent.