Peyton Manning will be honored with a chocolate statue in his likeness at an annual chocolate fair, and the sculptor making the original form out of clay is nearly done.
When planners of Choctoberfest requested a 3-D-printed Manning statue to be covered in chocolate, they were referred to Tim King, a sculptor with 15 years of experience who sculpted a 2002 Christmas ornament for President George W. Bush.
King accepted the challenge and after a year and a half of work now has just 20 hours left before his clay
Manning bust is turned into a rubber and resin version, and eventually chocolate, The Denver Post reported.
After King obtains the rubber and resin version of the statue, he will spray the statue with liquid chocolate, meaning that Manning will not be edible.
"There is a lot research about the subject matter," King told The Denver Post of his 300-pound detailed sculpture. "A lot of planning, size, scale, cost, time frame. Then it changes a lot."
However, the sculptor who spends approximately 20 to 40 hours a week sculpting outside of his job at IBM, appears to be pulling through. "I started with a positive sculpture made out of clay, and in order to cast any limited editions of that I have to put rubber outside of that to make a negative image and then we can
cast other things inside of that negative copy," he explained to Fox 31.
"I needed to make sure that it didn't fall apart, I wouldn’t want Peyton’s arm to fall off right before the festival," King told Fox 31.
He hopes his Manning statue is a hit, as he is willing to make one cast in bronze, rather than in chocolate, for a high bidder.
The statue of the Broncos quarterback has incredible detail and even includes the football star’s two middle fingers off of the football he is holding, which is how Manning positions himself before throwing. Using photos of Manning, King was able to accurately depict him in clay. For extra artistic and legal precaution, King sent his plans to Archie Manning, the football star’s father.
"I am making sure it has motion, some kind of spiral to it so it makes a person want to look at the back," he told The Denver Post.
To avoid any legal barriers, the statue is devoid of any NFL or Broncos insignia. The artist did include some deeper symbols though, such as the number “1903,” which was the address of the football star’s high school.
"There's a lot of little hidden things, too," he emphasized to The Denver Post. "I would hope someone who is a huge fan would get it or solve the puzzle."
Choctoberfest will be held in Broomfield on Sept. 19.
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