my Happy Mardi Gras mask ice sculpture design probably showed up in the old NICA newsletter a LONG time ago. I can’t be for sure at the moment, but maybe I have the old On Ice newsletter in a box..somewhere
my Happy Mardi Gras mask ice sculpture design
updated 4/18/23 when added to iss
This design may have appeared in a newsletter in 2001; the original text was as follows:
“Mardi Gras Mask”
Dawson List, Ice Dragon Ice Sculptures, New Orleans, LA
Every year, forty-seven days before Easter, the city of New Orleans sees the culmination of weeks of pageantry and revelry. This day is called Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday and represents a last day of celebration for Catholics before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. Surely, it’s one of the biggest parties on the planet!
If Mardi Gras has spilled over into your part of the country, you might find this design useful. If you’re not experienced with aluminum welding, you’ll have an easier time attaching the hat piece by laying the sculpture down on it’s side. Do this early, before you’ve carved out the other side of the hat, so that it’s not too delicate and prone to breakage. The sculpture should be carved from a five inch thick slab of ice, with a base added for extra stability.
The diagram below might help you assemble the sculpture.
when you make multi-piece designs like this Happy Mardi Gras mask ice sculpture, it’s often easier to weld pieces horizontally. However, once you get the hang of aluminum welding, you can save yourself a bit of hassle with vertical welds.
how much ice does this sculpture use?
Generally, for the Happy Mardi Gras mask ice sculpture, you’re probably going to want to used a 4+” thick full size slab (20″x40″) of ice for the main part of the sculpture and then another smaller slab (usually around 20″x10-12″x4″) for the base piece. So in total, if you assume you get at least 2 slabs of ice from your block, you’re looking at using 4/6 of a block for this sculpture. However, if you make ice sculptures regularly, you always want to save any smaller pieces that would work as base slabs. If you have any base pieces ready, then you’ll only need the 1 slab of ice for the main section.
how would this design do on a cnc machine?
My Happy Mardi Gras mask ice sculpture would work out very well on my CNC machine! This design is very well suited for CNC ice sculpting. I’ll probably have to wait until next Mardi Gras for a chance to create one, but I’ll definitely be on the lookout for an opportunity!
for more info and some guidelines
If you have any questions about my Happy Mardi Gras mask ice sculpture design, email me or comment below. (It might not let you though.) If you would like to use this ice sculpture design or any other design on this site, please check the design usage guidelines. The design collection page lists designs on the site.
You might also find photos and info from this entry on the ice sculpting secrets facebook page and you can comment there as well as below. Thanks!
