A special kind of birdhouse!

[BLZeebub]

I posted some images of my sculpting attempts in the Show Off threads.  This is the main body and armature for a birdhouse for my grandfather's 80th birthday.  He sculpts in the medium of cement and sphagnum moss and builds fantastic faces on cedar roots (and other fun creations).

 

My dilemma is that, while this needn't necessarily be a functioning birdhouse, I'd like it to not weigh 75 pounds in the end.  So I'd prefer to lighten my cement mixture with sphagnum/peat moss.  But whenever I add even the slightest amount of moss, it turns the end product crumbly...

 

 

So I've finished this guy, my first cement sculpture, not my first birdhouse.  I went with pure cement (fine) with a dash of mortar to smooth it out more.  Took me a while, but I think Gramps will appreciate it.  I know I'm not a world class sculptor or anything, but this was both enjoyable and challenging.  Working with cement (ie:  fighting gravity and hydroflow constantly, as well as dealing with occasional too-large chunks) was very strange, having worked with only GS, apoxysculpt, sculpey, and Play-Doh.  If I did it right, you should be able to tell the emotion I was trying to invoke in him.

 

Any questions, comments, suggestions, critiques are welcome! 

 

Cheers!

Edited October 31, 2016 by BLZeebub

[Gadgetman!]

What's the Humus content of that peat?

Humus really, really shouldn't be anywhere near concrete.

 

Instead, consider looking at other fillers.

Mythbusters used quite a few when they tested their concrete gliders.

[Leader of the Rats]

This is completely new to me. Got any pics of your grandfathers work?

[Chaoswolf]

I don't have any useful ideas, but this is a very interesting project!