This is where things got real. After weeks of planning and design work, it was finally time to start building. Dan Wagner handled the logistics, making sure materials arrived where they needed to go. While I fabricated the steel base and armature components, Sal and Chin-Loo Lama cut the plywood profiles generated from Gian Calise's SOLIDWORKS xDesign model and built a precision jig to hold everything in position.
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When the team arrived at my shop, it was game on. We unloaded trailers, organized materials, and started assembling the armature. One of Gian's best ideas was using solid 2-inch steel spheres as pivot points, eliminating difficult miter cuts and speeding up the entire welding process.
At the same time, foam sections were cut, stacked, glued, and aligned using custom jigs, dowels, clamps, and even gym weights. Thanks to the incredible planning from Sal and Gian, everything fit together like a giant puzzle.
| Once the steel structure was complete, we removed the temporary fixture and finally had a freestanding dinosaur skeleton. Then came the fun part—adding mountains of XPS foam and carving the shape of Frank into existence. With rasps, hot-wire cutters, grinders, saws, and plenty of expanding foam, the team transformed a rough framework into something recognizable. By the end of the third day, Frank had officially emerged. |
Most impressive of all was the team. In just a few days, we accomplished an incredible amount of work and turned a digital model into a full-scale reality.
For me, this was one of the most rewarding parts of the project. I'm used to working in CAD, where everything is precise and controlled. Sculpting foam is completely different—there's no Undo button. Every cut matters, and you experience the design in a way a computer screen can never replicate. |
🦖 Watch now! 🎬
And we're just getting started. In the next video, we'll begin bringing Frank to life with massive 3D-printed parts and hand-sculpted details. 🦖
