Make a Lawn Statue, Copied From (almost) Anything

Having a lawn statue is a great way to personalize your home. As a maker I really wanted to show my style and skills in my yard.

The Idea Behind Making A Copy Out Of Cement
I wanted to make small cement Moai head of my own. Actually I wanted to make as many as I can and line my yard with them. The plan would be to do this with the least amount of materials and at a low cost because after I'm finished with the run I probably wouldn't need them anymore.

Basic Plan,
The basic plan will be to use the item, my Moai head as a positive mold so we can make a negative mold in the dirt with it. Then we will put the cement in the negative mold to get our copy.

Tools
Large Basin, Tub or Wheelbarrow (this will be to mix the cement in. so be prepared to clean it out)
Drill with your choice of driver bit and screws (I like square recess and torx)
Rubber Gloves (I mixed the cement by hand but you could use a shovel)
Shovel (to break up the dirt and mix the cement)
A hose or buckets of water Small spritzer bottle 5 gallon bucket, This will be to mix the sand/topper mix in so be prepared to clean this out small
1 gallon bucket or anything to scoop out the cement (quart bucket etc) Materials Pile of dirt, you will need enough to place your item in that you want to copy
Planks of wood, enough to make a box around your pile of dirt and under it

Materials
Sand/Topping Cement Mix, One bag goes a long way
1 bag of Quickrete, Also one bag goes a long way
Tarp/Painter Tarp or large board if making the mold out doors Optional items stainless steel scouring pads
12in rebar

And most of all the thing you want to copy. I'm using a 2 foot tall 3D printed Moai. You could use other thing just try to choose something to complex like a cat statue but the key will be to what ever you want to copy it will end up with a flat back.
The other option for would be to make a negative mold by hand. You could draw a sun with big rays coming out of it or a welcome stone. The sky's the limit!

Cost: I don't plan to go into the details of cost on this project because most of the parts will cost different prices will vary because of where you live and you may or may not need to buy the tools. For me the Quickrete was around $4 a bag and the topping mix was around $7. So making 3 statues at a time it cost me about $7 for total for the 3 statues, materials only. I still have 2/3rds of the topping mix left. Really low cost for a simple project.

Make a pile of dirt at least twice as tall as the item you want to copy. Make sure to have enough dirt to make a really thick wall at the top. Use the wood planks to make a box around the pie of dirt if you need to control/hold the dirt in place. Scoop out the middle of your pile and push it toward the edges so it will help with the wall. Place your item facedown in the hole you dug out and pack as much of the dirt under t and around it as you can.
Pull out the item out and add dirt into the spaces that don't have the negative look of the item.

This will take several tries of putting the item in and out of the hole to to get right. Use the spritzer bottle to spritz water on the dry patches to make them smooth. I used a board at the bottom of the statue to ensure the bottom of the statue will be flat.

Pro Tips: Make sure is several inches deep in most parts so you don't end up with a thin section. One of my Moai heads has a very thin neck and i'm worried it will break the moment it falls over. If you really want to re enforce the cement you could add several stretched out stainless steel scouring pads. The smoother you make the mold in dirt the smoother the copy will be.

These steps will need to be done fast for the statue to come out right. Read through them all before starting and have all materials on hand to get the cement to the mold and in place before it dries. Wearing the rubber gloves, start with a small amount of topper mix cement in the 5 gallon bucket. For 3 heads I only used 1/3 of the 60 pound bag. Follow the instruction on the bag to get the mix right. I have mixed this before so I knew what the consistency should be so I mixed as I went but there are many Instructables on her to learn how to mix it just right. Make small batches of this because you will not need the whole bag.

The process is like this. Mix a small batch, around 2 or 3 hand fulls at a time. spread the topper mix with your hand around the face of the mold. This will b the front of the statue so we use the topper mix to be smoother. I needed to make a few small batches to smooth all the faces of the 3 molds. Now that the face is covered we quickly move onto the infill In the large tub/basin/wheelbarrow mix the Quickrete. Depending on the size of your mold you may not need the whole bag so eyeball the amount you need. Follow the mixing instructions on the bag for the most part. The key will to not add too much water. If you add to little it will harden faster and you will be able to tell while you are mixing it so you will have to add a little at a time. Again there are a lot of instructions on the internet on how to mix this so i don't want to go into this to deep. For this water does not add a lot of volume to the Quickrete so figure however much will fill the mold dry will be how much you need when you add the water and mix it.

If you mix it with your hands or a shovel make sure you get all the dry powder wet before pouring into the mold. Using the smaller container scoop out some of the Quicrete and pour it into the mold. You will want to move fast in order to get the mold filled before it starts to get to the consistency of playdoh. Also this is the part where you add the stainless steel scouring pad if you want to reinforce it. Stretch several pads out to the full lenght of the statue and layer the between the scoops of Quickrete. If you want to add the rebar add it now. Place it sticking out the bottom of the statue so that 6 inches is in the statue and 6 inches is out of the statue. When the statue is completely dry it will be a great way to stand it up on the ground by stabbing the rebar into the ground. Once the mold is full using your hand or the shovel smooth out the top. This is just my preference. If you want a rough back feel free to leave it rocky. The great thing about doing the smooth face and then the infill with Quickrete is that the topper mix will dry as fast as the Quickrete.

Now that the molds are filled cover them with something like a tarp or sheet of plywood. This will help protect them from rain or cats that like to use boxes of dirt as well, you know......

Now we wait. Even though it is Quickrete we are making something thick in some places and thin in others so for good measure I just wait 24 hours and pull the statue from the mold the next day but you can pull yours around 2 or 3 hours if you want.

After waiting for the cement to dry for about 24 hours. It's now time to pull your creation. If all goes well you should have something that resembles the item you started with, well with a flat back anyway.
Pull the new head out of the dirt. It will be completely covered in dirt. Break off as much as you can. Using a hose and maybe a scrub brush clean the rest of the dirt off the statue.

Pro tip: if you have a pressure washer you could do a quick spray off.

Here is where you learn how smooth or rough your new statue is. I wanted it to be a little rough and it turned out great. The great thing I think about this project is that the materials are low cost and you can make another ones with what you learned very quickly now that you have all the tools assembled. Place them in your yard and enjoy.