Brutus Build
By Jason Becker
Jason Becker, an art teacher from Kansas, met Chris at a show where he made some sketches of the Brutus truck as a 3D concept body. Chris loved his designs and asked him if he could sculpt a life sized version. Jason thought it would be an awesome project. He started in fall 2001 after receiving an old Brutus cab and clip from Chris. He completed his work in January of 2002. Here are his explanations about the process.
First I took the flimsy fiberglass body and got it squared up using a wooden 2x4 framework, and put it on casters so I could maneuver it around the work space more easily
Next I began glueing foam to the body with industrial adhesive.
When all the blocks were glued on, I used a variety of tools (sandpaper, saw blades etc) to remove any unwanted pieces of foam, and began sculpting the basic desired form of the "dog."
Once the foam was completely carved and all details were added I layed a single coat of fiberglass mesh and resin to create a hard shell over the entire truck, except the top of the cab. The main reason for the fiberglass was strength, and to ensure that the vibration of the sanding process (to come next) would not shake the foam blocks loose, which would have been a disaster.
The next step was to mix up Bondo Auto Body Filler (5 gallons of it!) and put a coat over the entire truck, except for the top of the cab, again. This was very much like decorating a birthday cake, except far more nasty and toxic!
After the Bondo dried it was time to sand it all back down until it was as smooth as possible. Whenever I sanded too far down, or there was a low area in the mold, I would add more Bondo as needed until the entire design was perfectly smooth.
The process of sanding, which was by far the most labor intensive part, was the most difficult of all the steps...and the messiest.
The final act was to spray on a heavy coat of grey primer, which filled in any minute scratches or imperfections. It was then lightly wet-sanded to a silky smooth, shinny finish.
Now you know where the 3D Brutus body come from, and how it was made.
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