Meet the B.C. man crafting a massive fire-breathing dragon modelled on Game of Thrones' Drogon
The sculpture has taken 13 months and is almost complete
It weighs 5,450 kilograms, towers 17 metres high and is covered in metallic scales.
A gigantic fire-breathing dragon is the latest creation by Kevin Stone, a metal sculpting artist from Chilliwack, B.C., who based the creature on Drogon — a dragon in the TV series Game of Thrones,
"It's obviously extremely challenging. And it's turned out really better than I could imagine," said Stone.
So far, Stone and his wife have been working on the piece for 13 months.The last remaining steps are finishing up the wings that stretch about 27 meters and doing safety tests on the dragon's fire-breathing system.
Stone's work is largely sold to buyers in the United States where an eagle sculpture he created for country singer Dolly Parton is installed in her Dollywood amusement park in Tennessee.
The eagle caught the eye of Matthew Focht, a marketing entrepreneur who is moving his company, called Truly360, from California to Puerto Rico.
Focht decided he wanted a sculpture of a dragon and searched Youtube for the most-detailed specimens. That's when he learned about Drogon.
"And I was like, oh my gosh, I've heard about Game of Thrones, but I've never seen dragons this detailed," Focht said.
"I wanted something that provided a wow factor. I wanted something very artistic."
Focht says he is still waiting for his new home to be built in Puerto Rico and deciding where the piece will go. He is considering his home or donating the piece to a community temporarily.
Stone has been an avid artist since he was young. After spending twenty years as a welder and later owning a hot rod shop, Stone began combining his drawing and sculpting talents to work with metal.
"I built a gargoyle for a place that I was working at. And that led into my first investor," he said.
More projects in the works
The magic of the Drogon project has sparked creative opportunities for Stone in Canada and the United States.
"It's really opened up the doors and it's snowballed into tons of projects coming in," said Stone.
Currently, he is building a stainless steel Tyrannosaurus rex for a client in Penticton.
"It'll be visible from some of the local beaches. So everybody will be able to see this giant T. Rex when it arrives in Penticton."
A bitcoin company in California recently commissioned the artist to do a two-metre tall sculpture of the head of Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk on the body of a goat riding a rocket into space.
"It's pretty exciting." said Stone," It's going to be driven around throughout the U.S.A advertising their Bitcoin."
Stone has also been challenged to build a signature motorbike sculpture for the Buffalo Chip Sturgis Rally 2022 in South Dakota, which draws bikers and enthusiasts worldwide.
"Kind of a big honour when you're in the car building and bike building world," he said. "I'm pretty excited about that. So that's another big challenge for us this year."
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