Timecop
Largo Entertainment

The futuristic squad car and limo was one of the most challenging projects I've undertaken. It required much planning and patience. Techniques and tools were developed to create its 'machined' look.

I'll never forget the day I walked into the little shop where I was to spend the next two months. There before me was an unrecognizable lump. The only thing that gave this lump away at all was the fact that you could see the lump had wheels. It looked in fact, much like a potato on wheels. Someone (no names please) had taken this project to a point and then abandoned it. They had done well with it up to this point. The original vehicle under the potato was a Volvo sedan. It had been infilled with sheet metal to rough out the general dimensions of the design ( by Sid Mead, an American designer for big American auto industry companies). This is when I walked in.

Sid Mead's design was covered in very intricate linear detail with dimensional relief 4-5-6 layers deep. And of course possessing all the symmetrical balances of a real vehicle. Somehow, with only Sid Meads 3/4 view to go on, it got done.

The squad car gave me a good lesson on how to go about the sculpting/machining of the sprayed polyurethane foam that formed the body or medium for the carving. The limo went relatively quickly. It did have its own special demands. It was almost 30 feet long. The design showed fine creases and body lines that were narrow, deep and ran the full length of the car. I developed a few techniques and tools to create these cars that I still use today for similar sculpture/ machining problems.