The brief
Our client was working on an exhibition for The National War Museum, the Warhorse Exhibition, illustrating the plight of horses that were involved in the First World War. We were asked to make three life size war horse exhibition props which would be painted white and have black and white clips of war horses in action during WWI.
Prop process images
The Process
The client wanted the horse to look like a shire horse but stylised to a certain degree, so we set about sculpting one horse in polystyrene. We gave the finished sculpt a hard coat so that we could make a fibreglass mould from it. The mould had many parts to it because of the size and stance of the horse. As with all moulds, we had to add a shim around the figure which dictates where the joins will be, and how many parts there will be to the mould. Each horse had to be suspended on a metal pole so that it could be positioned in the Museum in such a way that it would look like they were galloping. We had to fit a metal frame inside the horse and weld a metal pole onto the frame, then make good the access hole, and finally paint the horses white ready for their trip to the museum.
Project Image
The Result
The three horse exhibition props were the main attraction at the museum and proved to be quite the hit with school children and war veterans alike.