Adding the Cement

After creating a cement base using a cardboard mold, I started to "cement mache" the chicken wire form. I found that regular concrete mix had too large of aggregate, or rocks, to be efficient while mache-ing so I switched to mortar mix which uses the same Portland Cement base but with only sand as aggregate. I had to add multiple layers to ensure that it wouldn't just crumble. However, the arms, wings, and head lacked the strength to support themselves. To fix this, I added Spray Foam Insulation which gave the cement more than chicken wire to relay on. After there were enough layers of cement on the chicken wire, I added a final layer of red colored cement by smoothing it on with my hand to create a finished look. The next step is to get it out of my basement so that we can mosaic it and then transport it.