Spirit Eagle Maquette

Yesterday I finished and shipped the Spirit Eagle Maquette for the Mikisew Elder Care Centre.  There were many steps to making the maquette, which should accurately represent the larger scale final project.  I started by cutting out the structural framing, adding the mounting base, cladding the legs, and then adding pieces to represent the glass and mosaic, which are held down with metal tabs.

Here’s a detail of the tabs holding down the glass in the mosaic.

 

The process of making the maquette was very tedious, but the use of the CNC machine helped me with cutting the pieces to exact dimensions.

The structural frame cut from MDF near the very beginning stages of maquette construction, with the opaque panels resting on top.

 

The maquette was built at a scale of 1:10, and is true to life with all the details that the final sculpture will have.  The wingspan of the maquette is 29″.

This is the base of the maquette, where the metal meets the cladding of the leg.

 

The balsa wood used in the model represents the dark stained cedar that will be used when the actual sculpture is built.  I mounted it on board with pedestals to represent the cement footings that have already been poured on site.  If you want to see some more drawings of the Spirit Eagle Canopy, go ahead and click through to my fine art site.  You can also find my fine art facebook page.

Maquette Materials:

Frame – MDF

Welded Feet – Card Stock

Glass – Acrylic Sheet

Mock Mosaic – Printed on Velum

Angle Iron & Glass Holding Tabs – Aluminum Sheet

Base – Thin MDF

Footing – Painted Particle Board

Lights – Sharpie Caps & Coat Hanger Stands

Here’s a photo where you can see the lights on the top of the maquette.

 

The package that I sent – all boxed up for shipping, with a custom foam cutout for cushioning.