I'm looking for a few creative ideas on this one. There is a collision repair shop nearby that wants a two sided sign, and he had the idea of the back end of a car sticking out of one side, and the front end sticking out the other, as if the car had crashed through the sign. We're talking 3-D here. The sign will only be 4 ft x 4 ft. I have no idea how to go about this or what materials to use to fabricate such a thing. But I told him I had some friends.... So, any of my friends out there have any ideas? I know a few of you have done something like this before - I appreciate any help I can get.
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
4x4 is to small....unless you want to mold up a scale model of the car outa fiberglass and steel. or you could get one of those BARBIE CARS, you know the battery powered cars for little kids, cut it in half, take a torch to it and make it look damaged..... ive seen this done with full sized cars...salvage yards will sell you a "front clip", or a whole "rear section". if you can find a small car(mini, toyota, honda CRX,)some thing in that size you can use a real one.
Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :
I gues I'd wonder what his budget is first. Anything can be done for the right price. My first idea was the same as Joe's, scale a car down, it could even be done out of HDU for light weight.
is that the cash register I hear? hahaha
[ March 18, 2004, 01:05 PM: Message edited by: Bob Rochon ]
Posted by Rick Beisiegel (Member # 3723) on :
I gotta go w/ OP on this one. It will look hokey at this size.
Posted by Jon Aston (Member # 1725) on :
This sounds like a job for Dan Sawatzky!
Posted by Suelynn Sedor (Member # 442) on :
Hey John,
There was a post here about a year ago that reminds me of what you are looking for. Someone posted pics of a really cool sign that I think was made out of styrofoam and it was mounted right to the building. There was something smashing out of the bricks and it looked like bricks flying. It was totally cool and was very realistic and well done. Hopefully someone will remember more about it and direct you to that link.
This might be something to try. Even if his building is wood or stucco, you could paint faux cracks and damage, and have a styrofoam rear end of a car sticking out. The name of the business could be done with large styrofoam letters.
Anybody have a better memory than me?
Suelynn
Posted by John Stagner (Member # 4091) on :
Thanks for the input. I might just suggest a graphic on the sign that delivers the same message. We can't increase the size, because it has to fit in the existing frame, to replace the existing sign. How do you think it would look on a 4 ft x 16 ft sign? May be putting up one that size, as well.
Posted by John Stagner (Member # 4091) on :
Thanks, Suelynn. That might be enough to do a search..."styrofoam". I still think it would be do-able on the bigger sign.
Posted by Ray Rheaume (Member # 3794) on :
John,
I don't know how much of a sense of humour the customer has, but what if you did a person instead of a car? You could make it look like he's coming thru a windshield. On the opposite side, like he just hit a wall.
It's corney, but it would fit into the scale you working within and you could carve it with foam. Keeping it cartoon like would make the carving less complicated.
Just stretching a few brain cells.... Rapid
[ March 18, 2004, 01:56 PM: Message edited by: Ray Rheaume ]
Posted by John Stagner (Member # 4091) on :
That IS creative, Ray. But the first thought that came to my mind when I made the mental picture was of the friend whose head went through the windshield when I crashed Dad's Olds 88 when I was 17. (Concrete Culvert, 45 mph) The friend is okay - hasn't ridden with me since then, though! There might be a few folks with similar memories who might take offense... By the way, I lost some teeth to the steering wheel, spent hours in surgery, and paid out the nose for insurance till I was 25. Man, I'm glad I was driving that tank! Could have been much worse!
Posted by Steve Thomas Greer (Member # 4566) on :
Hey John...
If you look in the sign craft mag sept/oct 2002 on page 8 you will see the vehicle smashing through the brick wall that was mentioned.
That sign is in Toronto..
Cheers to Canadian Beer!
Posted by Lotti Prokott (Member # 2684) on :
Hi John, Could you suggest a separate mural rather than try and combine this with the actual sign? I think if there's enough room on the building somewhere, an actual rear end combined with Suelynn's idea would look awesome. Make it look as if the car actually smashed into the building.
Posted by Checkers (Member # 63) on :
There was another picture posted here that I think Rod from down-under did. It was mural on the side of a convenience store and it was a graphic of a vehicle crashing through the building. Off topic, but, here's a link to a display that we did for the American Trauma Society. Be forwarned, it's a disturbing picture that makes you think. ATS Mural The specific picture I'm referring to is the smaller inset on the right hand side. Every time I get in the car and think about not wearing my seatbelt, this image comes to mind.
Havin' fun,
Checkers
Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :
1/5 and 1/6 scale RC car bodies - paint em on the inside, use a heatgun and rocks to form realistic dents in the fenders (heat it til it's soft then press the rock into the fender, remove the rock once it's cool enough to hold its shape)
Wal Mart (ick!) has a GIANT R/C Hummer H2, I mean it's like over 2ft long.
PowerWheels would work for that size too.
There's also the vintage pedal cars, might be a shame to mount the sucker into a sign (they range $150-$300) but hey, it would work! These pedal cars have kind of a cartoon flair to them too - still probably cheaper than spending the labor building something custom.
Great ideas, gang. I've got some things to think about... Thanks for all the help! If the customer accepts the quote, I'll post pics when done.
Posted by Monte Jumper (Member # 1106) on :
Carve ...smarve...Go buy a pedal car (perfect for the size sign you talking about... cut the middle 1/3 out of it and clip mount it to the face (front and rear)to aluminum .090 faces...just the humor of the pedal car will draw some great responses...you could even stripe it or flame it...all done with automotive finishes...and the cost ? probably under a hundred bucks for the materials (including the car).
Sounds like a fun project...have fun!
[ March 18, 2004, 06:48 PM: Message edited by: Monte Jumper ]
Posted by Ray Rheaume (Member # 3794) on :
Monte,
You got me thinking...
The front and back plastic bumpers of a mini cup car would work. The scale is right (1/2 actual car size), they're lightweight yet durable, no carving needed since their already formed to the needed shape and would be pretty easy to mount to a sign.
Rapid
Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :
Monte's Ideas is great, think how cool the pedal car will be? lol
