Get ready. Now I reveal the Futurist Gothic finish for this piece, gold vinyl wrap of my dreams. 3M 1080 Car Wrap. This stuff is great, used to wrap cars instead of painting them now, comes in a lot of colors and finishes. Applying it has a knack, so I’ll  record something.

The material is paper-backed sticky vinyl, and can be warmed to stretch and conform to complex surfaces. You can learn a lot about using it on a popular video streaming site, but that will be about wrapping cars. I’m going to cut it into triangles mostly, and apply it like trencadis tile. I’ll make paper templates to fit the large flat tail piece and head piece. Not waste any material.

Remove the backing from half the material, and arrange on the piece. Then remove the rest and apply pressure with squeegee to smooth.

Using gentle heat to smooth the creases.

Full coverage.

I’m using a slightly different texture of wrap, “brushed metal” to create a highlight on the large flat sections.

So there, done at last and ready to deliver to the show I’m invited to. About six months from the conception. Everything about the materials of this piece were new to me, a big experiment in a process used somewhat to make movie props and parade floats, but especially Fallas sculptures. The finished work is only about 25 lbs. A way to work at larger scale without out the weight, cost and labor of traditional materials like plaster or fiberglass; a way to realize extravagant designs without too much commitment of $, time and effort. Definitely enjoying this freedom these materials permit.