6-30-03 Latest News

WETA Workshop Magic
Xoanon @ 11:18 am EST

7ft Statue

Daniel Cole writes: I thought you might like to see a photo of Weta Workshop's creation of Lurtz. He is one of only (3) 7- foot scuptures in the world. I have the one shown in my theater room and the other two belong to New Line Cinema. According to the president of Weta, he took over four months to build. I have also sent you an email I received from the president of Weta Workshop, Richard Taylor, about the creation of my Lurtz statue and the efforts that went into making him. I had originally contacted Weta Workshop to ask if they had any photos of Lurtz during the fabrication process. Here is what he wrote:

Hi there Daniel:

I am thrilled that you are happy with your Lurtz. We don't even have one in our workshop, so you are very lucky.

To create your Lurtz was quite an affair. It took about four to five months of pretty consistent work. Bill Hunt and Jamie Beswarick sculptured it, Jason Docherty supervised the mold-making (done in fiberglass and silicon), Jason Harvey skinned the creature and foamed the interior. An armature was welded up and then Les Nairn and Gino Acevedo painted in along with adding eyes and teeth. Mike Grealish made the costume, which I finally assembled.

We've made three life size Lurtz to date. One that is used at Trade Shows with our Sideshow Weta collectibles line, Games Workshop have one in the UK and you have the other.

Unfortunately we didn't take any photos during the process, so the only ones can be the great ones you take with you and your family of Lurtz.

Look after him well, or he may just bite your hands off!

Cheers,

Richard Taylor
Weta Workshop