Sculpture
Case Study

Polar Bear Cub Army

We were asked to design and create a Polar bear cub sculpture and create 20x duplicates for a Christmas shopping trail for kids.

The sculptures needed to be 95% recyclable, robust and durable for a 3-5year duration.

Research

As with all animal sculpture, gaining the depth of reference material is crucial to enable the sculpting to be sympathetic to the anatomy of the subject. Skeletal, muscular and fur information was researched and even having an understanding of the fully grown Polar bears was an important part of the reference stack.

Digital Sculpture / Concept

You can see how the cub went through various stages from early blockout through refinement and finally the form was found. It was a really painful process, trying to create a kind of light, fluffy look to something which will effectively be a solid.

We were aiming to create a cute but realistic feel to the work, retaining some vulnerability and character in the final sculpture.

Sculpture Production

Working with digital files means we can 3D print the master object. Using SuperHuge 3D Printing means we can hand finish the surface which gives us a handmade feel to the final sculpture.
The master model was then moulded and 20x casts we created using polyurethane resin.

Painting the Sculptures

A really great challenge to bring the fluffy fellah to life. It was so important to bring him to life, instead of just putting some white paint on him!!
Building up the base layers, finding the character inside...
Softening the base colours...
Finally working and re-working the fur effect and character around the eyes. It took time...

The Army Is Complete!

Launched at the National Marine Aquarium Plymouth, the cubs looked great being watched by Sharks and Friday the Turtle.
SuperHuge 3D printing uses up to 80% less material than traditional processes.
Our print waste is 100% recyclable.

You can see our blog for more about the project

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