Rutland’s Queen Elizabeth II statue now encased in fibreglass

A statue of the late Queen Elizabeth II is a step closer to being unveiled.

The statue, believed to be England’s first permanent memorial to the monarch, will be located at Oakham Library in Rutland.

Working from his studio in Hammersmith, London, sculptor Hywel Pratley, assisted by Naomi Edwards of Edwards Moulding and Casting, have completed the silicone covering of the 7ft statue and have now moved on to the fibreglass shell stage.

Mr Pratley said: “The pink silicone moulds around the clay to produce an exact copy of the clay model, but of course silicone rubber would never stand up on its own, so it requires a fibreglass ‘shell’ to completely surround it and hold it up.”

The fibreglass is applied in manageable sections, eight at the front of the statue and another eight at the back. The individual statues of the Corgi dogs also have the same treatment.

He said: “Now that we’ve completed the fibreglass it will take several days to go off completely and then it is cast in wax before we are off to the foundry for the first trial bronze pouring next week.”

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