The bird was my second attempt using Styrofoam. The material is actually Owens Corning extruded polystyrene foam insulation. The four by eight sheet of insulation was 2 inches thick. The bird was made out of welded steel. The bird’s head and body was made out of Styrofoam. The bird made look like it is on skis, but I plan to bury that portion in the ground. I am hoping this will prevent the bird from blowing over. Slots were cut for the steel tubing. I later filled the voids using spray insulation foam.
For the glasses, I welded steel plates to the frame. The steel plates would be embedded into the Styrofoam. The eyes were steel half spheres with steel rods welded to the bottom of the spheres. The slots in the Styrofoam were made by heating the steel and allowing it to melt the Styrofoam. The eyes and glasses were glued using Loctite Foamboard Adhesive. Because of the large gaps, the Foamboard Adhesive took almost two weeks to dry. I coated the bird with a cement mixture used for setting floor tile. I primed the concrete using Latex Base DRYLOK® Masonry Waterproofer. The final paint was 1 Shot which is an oil based paint.
