Customer: Steve Morrone of Imagine Factory, LLC in Sicklersville, NJ.
Challenge: The client needed to identify a 3D material for a 20 foot sculpture that was both lightweight and portable to hang suspended from the ceiling of the waiting area of a busy office area.
Solution: Artist Steve Morrone, owner and artist of Imagine Factory is expanding, just like our EPS foam. Imagine Factory uses a variety of materials for his 3D creations, but for this twenty foot hanging humpback whale, EPS was the only answer for this design. Behind the majority of his 3D creations you will find EPS, expanded polystyrene, that is manufactured by Alleguard in Allentown, PA.
Creating A 20′ Foam Humpback Whale In EPS
Imagine Factory’s client, a dental office, wanted to make a statement in their office, and Morrone did not disappoint with delivering not one but two whales that hang from the ceiling in their lobby. An underwater wall mural and 20 foot ceiling and windows create the perfect backdrop for this installation of a humpback whale mother and her calf.
To date, this is Morrone’s favorite installation. Believe it or not the Humpback whale that measures 20 feet long is about 6 feet wide, weighs less than 100 pounds. Yes, you read that correctly – under 100 pounds. Now that is the power of EPS.
As often as he can, Morrone will try to repurpose the scraps from previous projects to complete a new project. In one case, he and his lead sculptor Jamie McCauley created a coral reef that was hand crafted out of the EPS scraps from the humpback whales. Morrone is not a fan of wasting any material and if he can’t reuse pieces he will send them back to Alleguard to be recycled.
This ocean project included pieces that were hand-crafted and milled on a CNC machine. The whale was created using a CNC machine that carved 26 pieces of pre-cut 3.75 inch thick EPS sheets (48” by 96”). The greatest challenge of creating the whale was the on-site assembly of large puzzle pieces.
Morrone uses a CNC machine to create most of his larger 3D pieces. So when he is planning his projects he will order EPS foam from Alleguard in pre-cut sheets to fit his router. For hand-carved projects, he will order appropriate sized foam blocks. If hand carving with EPS, the common tools in his tool box include a chainsaw, hot knife, rasps and sanding blocks – ideal tools when working with EPS foam.
Depending on the application and use of the design you may be required to use certain coatings for durability, fire or water resistance etc. Morrone uses another Lehigh Valley based manufacturer, Smooth On, for most of his coatings, composites and epoxies.