Cherry Insurance - Fabrication Process
The outdoor advertising campaign was introduced in 2006 and ran for several years.
This project required equal parts problem solving and caffeine
( Note: No king’s horses were harmed in the making of this campaign )
Once the plans were drawn and confirmed, the next step was laminating rigid foam sheets into a giant block. This block was then placed on a peg with egg shaped plywood templates on either side, creating a giant ‘lathe’.
A circular saw attached to a 2"x4" mirrored the template shape, carving the egg as the whole block was turned slightly after each pass. The result was a perfectly symmetrical egg shape - something that would have been impossible by hand and eye.
Once the basic shape was achieved, foam was added where required and the basic character (legs and arms too) was carved.
With carving complete, two layers of fibreglass and plenty of body filler were applied then finished with primer and gloss paint; this is the master figure and is called a 'plug’. It represents not the finished figures, but only the beginning.
From the master ‘plug’, molds are made. Then from the molds, parts for the final figures are made. Here, the plug is covered in fiberglass that will be pulled off to become a mold. Air valves are inserted to assist in removing the mold from the plug.
Here, the parts are shown after coming out of the molds. These finished parts were then assembled, strengthened with an internal foam structure and finally painted.
Here are the master plugs for hands and feet being made by fiberglassing over the carved foam shapes.
Here is a right-hand mold for a foot just after being taken off the master plug. All right-hand feet parts will come from this mold.
We may have gotten a bit scrambled on this project.
Welcoming our new friends to the world!
Retirement Plans
With the campaign successfully completed, it was time for the humpties to kick back and relax.
A large firm that had just moved into a former egg processing plant expressed interest. We painted Humpty gloss white and soon this guy was all settled in. By all reports he is very happy - we’re told the firm even dresses humpty up for holidays and events. We’re happy he has found a good home… it’s been a long road - he must be fried - a shell of his former self - likely in need of benediction.
About a year later, above-mentioned egg processing plant bought another humpty and installed him on the roof of their building over the front door. Cracking!
