I drove this sculpture 9 hours from New Orleans to Savannah, GA for the Fear the Walking Dead series wrap party. I went partly because I’d done a bunch of sculptures in the past for FTWD and I wanted to finish things off right, and partly because I’d always wanted to go to Savannah. All of the ice portraits are major characters in the show.
updated 8/10/23 with significant additions including pics, also definitely seo and links
how to handle preserving ice sculptures for transport
a project for a tv show wrap party in Georgia
Before I start in, I don’t really like how I initially titled this post. Lately though, when I looked at some of the most popular pages on this restored site, this page kept showing up. For a sec, I was puzzled. And then I went outside and I remembered, oh yeah, it’s HOT AF 🔥🥵🔥 If I REALLY didn’t like the title, I could change everything and do a redirect, but that’s a hassle. So, in the interests of keeping this post easily accessible for now, I’m not changing the URL and the title stays partly the same; I have to at least keep “preserving ice sculptures for transport.” However, in the winter ❄️, we’ll see…
As things would have it, I recently did a fairly long trek with a larger ice display. It wasn’t as hot as it is now, but it wasn’t cool. I agreed to make a sculpture for a favorite client working in Savannah, GA and it was a nine hour drive there. The project was a sculpture display for the wrap party for Fear the Walking Dead (FTWD). I’m a fan of the show and I’ve worked with the set caterer for many years, so I’ve done several sculptures for their wrap parties in the past, but never in Savannah.
Anyway, driving my truck seemed like overkill, so I got a rental car with decent cargo space. I figured it would basically pay for itself with the fuel savings. I got my ice nice and cold in a lower temp freezer. And then except for the addition of dry ice, I basically wrapped up the 8 pieces of the sculpture just like I describe below.
As it turned out, in combo with the dry ice, my method for preserving ice sculptures for transport worked a little TOO well. I didn’t drive straight through; I stopped a few times to rest. But when I got there, the ice was COLD 🥶 And even though I was careful, I still managed to pop the sculpture a little. You can see a thin fracture line in the portraits on the left (Morgan and Daniel). But hardly anyone will notice stuff like that, even though to me it stands out as one of the most prominent aspects of the display 🤪
wait, why is this random fish ice sculpture here? Well, this is a barramundi or Asian seabass, a fish native to Southeast Asia and surrounding areas. A long time back, I did this sculpture for a Sunday brunch. I think for the first version of the “preserving ice sculptures for transport” post, I just picked a random sculpture. So it’s back for continuity, lol. I did have to transport it and it IS an ice sculpture, so I guess it was ok 🤷♂️😬
Preserving ice sculptures for transport is tough enough. But when you’re driving into a zombie apocalypse?!
So what’s my personal “preserving ice sculptures for transport” record? Probably this one. I actually made the sculpture in Florida at Ice Pro. Then I took it back to Mobile, AL, where I used to have a small place in addition to my place in New Orleans. I chilled and repacked the sculpture and rested too. Then I took the sculpture to Albuquerque. Long ride! Oh, and I look beat up from the long drive. Hugh looks beat up because he’s shooting a movie. So he’s just faking 🤣
the basics of preserving ice sculptures for transport
In an ideal world, all of your ice carving clients are close by and you have a decent-sized freezer truck to handle deliveries. Since that’s rarely the case and because busy days often have several events going off at nearly the same time, possibly many miles apart, it’s important to have a simple way to preserve sculptures outside the freezer for at least for 2-3 hours. What we want is a simple and inexpensive method for preserving ice sculptures for transport and preventing your sculptures from melting before they’re supposed to.
However you transport your ice sculpture, your goal is to keep out the heat. Most insulation systems, whether it be fiberglass insulation for your house or a thermos for your coffee, stop the transfer of heat energy by surrounding the insulated area with a dead air space or series of spaces. There’s little movement and no inflow or outflow of air in the space(s), so heat energy has a hard time moving across it.
A simple way to achieve a dead air space around an ice carving is to combine drum liner sized plastic bags (air and water barriers) with sleeping bags (bulky insulators). First, the carving is bagged and the bag tied off. Next, a sleeping bag is wrapped or zipped completely around the sculpture and taped or secured with plastic wrap, bungee cords, or giant rubber bands if necessary. Finally, the wrapped ice is bagged again.
With this method, you surround your sculpture with a dead air space. And space is key, which is why the carving has to be completely covered by the sleeping bag, which gives the space some needed structure. If part of the carving isn’t covered by the sleeping bag, then there’s nothing to keep the two layers of plastic from touching, a situation that provides little insulation.
The plastic bags stop the air movement and they also should stop any water if there’s any melting. Thicker bags are preferable because they’re better heat barriers and they won’t rip and leak as easily. The bags also should be large enough that one bag will, in most cases, cover the entire sculpture.
If multiple bags are required to completely cover a sculpture, this can degrade the air barrier because it’s not properly sealed. HDX drum liners, available at Home Depot (about $25 for 40), are a solid choice because they’re usually big enough, thick enough, and, as an added bonus, clear. As an added bonus 😜, a sculpture in the freezer bagged with clear plastic is less likely to be broken because people can more easily see that it’s ice, instead of something less delicate.
When wrapping a sculpture, probably the most efficient procedure is to bag the sculpture from the bottom up. First, open up a bag and set it down. Next, put the bottom of the sleeping bag, partly zipped, if the zipper still works, on top of the open drum liner. Then put another opened bag on top of the open sleeping bag. Finally, set the sculpture on top of it all and wrap or zip each layer up and around the sculpture. Sometimes, nothing more than the three bags is required because the sleeping bag can often be zipped up or just wrapped around so that the whole sculpture is covered.
I really like this EZStart Duck tape for wrapping up with broken/no zipper sleeping bags when I’m preserving ice sculptures for transport. It doesn’t leave residue later (usually), it holds in the cold, and it starts easy.
why sleeping bags are my choice for preserving ice sculptures for transport
Sleeping bags work well because they’re fairly durable, widely available, inexpensive, and zip up. Bags without natural materials tend to hold up better because they don’t fall apart and start to rot if they stay wet for extended periods. Sporting goods stores or Wal Mart-type stores usually have a decent selection of bags in a variety of insulation levels. In most cases, the 3 lb. bags are sufficient, but 4 lb. bags are also good. Some carvers use other kinds of insulation, like moving blankets, but here’s a list of reasons to go with sleeping bags.
- They’re relatively inexpensive (usually under $20 each).
- They’re available for purchase sometimes late at night when you buy them at a Wal Mart or similar.
- They don’t absorb water and water quickly drains out of them when hung up.
- The artificial materials won’t rot if you accidentally store them wet.
- A variety of color options means you can color code your sculptures for delivery if you wish.
- They provide both thermal and physical protection.
just a sleeping bag, hanging out. I prefer sleeping bags over other possibilities for preserving ice sculptures for transport. Maybe the only downside for me is that they’re a little slippery. That, and that the zippers always fail at some point :/
using dry ice for preserving ice sculptures for transport
Dry ice is super cold (-109˚F), fairly easy to get in many places, and usually not super expensive. (Currently, it’s generally under $2/pound around me.) But it’s tricky to use and will burn you in more than one way.
I’ve used dry ice both as pellets and in cut slabs for preserving ice sculptures for transport. The pellets will cool more effectively, but since they’re small, they don’t last as long. (Dry ice sublimates, or turns to gas, pretty quickly.) And sometimes you won’t notice when a little piece is against your skin. Most of my cases of minor frostbite have been small burns from pellets. Do not handle dry ice without protection unless you know what you’re doing! And don’t let kids or pets near it either!
I use dry ice while I’m transporting ice sculptures for several reasons. It may be a long drive, it might be REALLY hot out with a long set up time (like an ice bar), or my ice may not be as cold as I would like when I leave. It’s always a judgement call and if I decide to get some (you can’t really store it for long), then I usually get a little more than I think I’ll need.
Now since cold air falls, you generally want dry ice above your ice. So definitely put some on top (and then cover it with insulation so that it creates a barrier of cold against incoming heat). I break up the slabs I usually buy by dropping them on the ground while they’re still in the bag. But don’t forget to put at least a little dry ice under and around your ice. You’re trying to block any incoming heat and that will likely be coming from all directions, unless you’re in space 
or it’s already cold. But then you wouldn’t need the dry ice to start with!
Watch out for how dry ice will make you feel too! Wait, what?!
It’s happened before where I forgot there was a bunch of dry ice in an enclosed space. It had been there for a bit and had displaced a lot of the oxygen. I went in there, closed the door, and quickly started feeling strange. Not like I was going to pass out or anything, but more like I was short of breath and wondering if was having some sort of weird cardiac event. But then I realized what was up, felt stupid 
, and opened a door and got out of there. Simple ventilation then fixed the problem.
Make no mistake, carbon dioxide, which is what dry ice is made of, has killed people. But the way it kills you is by depriving you of oxygen, almost the same way that drowning in water would. If you’re in water though, you definitely know it right away! Inhaling dry ice isn’t inherently toxic, like say, carbon monoxide would be. In fact, you just now exhaled a bunch of carbon dioxide. But it’s still not totally safe since it can keep you from getting the oxygen you need. So be careful, and be aware, unlike I was (at least for a little bit).
more tips on preserving ice sculptures for transport
When you wrap an ice sculpture with the method I described, your goal is to start cold and stay cold. Your sculpture should be hard frozen when it’s wrapped, preferably in a 0 to -10° F freezer. (If your sculpture is stored at those temps, you might even get 5 or 6 hours of transport time out of it!) It’s also a good idea for the sleeping bag to be cold and it definitely should be dry.
Wrapping the sculpture too tightly (with shrink wrap or similar) can be counterproductive because it reduces the size of the dead air space and can stress the sculpture physically. On the other hand, wrapping the sculpture too loosely will likely let warm air in and make the sculpture more difficult to move. Like Goldilocks, you should be trying to find the balance of thick and thin that’s “just right” for your needs.
After your sculpture is wrapped, it’s ready for transport. Most of the time, this means putting it in a vehicle and driving to the destination. There are a lot of options here, from the back of a pickup truck to the passenger seat of a golf cart. Common sense has to guide this process; safety comes first, closely followed by protecting the sculpture from physical and thermal damage. There are lots of potential situations, and it would be tough to cover them all here, but here are a few tips:
- In an open pick-up bed, provide additional protection for the wrapped sculpture from rain, road wind, and the warm metal bed. If you’re going to be on a freeway, the wind will probably be your biggest enemy. UV tarps, additional sleeping bags, and foam sheets can help.
- Inside a vehicle, don’t block your mirror views with your ice, even if you have cameras. Accidents are bad for sculptures (and cars and people too).
- With multiple sculptures, pack them together as closely as possible without risking breakage if they should shift and hit one another.
- Laying a sculpture down usually puts it in the safest position, but sometimes this isn’t possible. Upright sculptures must be secured, and not vulnerable to collisions with other shifting sculptures or objects.
- If you use dry ice to help cool your sculpture, the dry ice can’t be right against your sculpture (the sculpture will crack) Make sure to put a substantial layer between ice and dry ice. A sleeping bag layer will usually suffice, but this isn’t 100%.
- Dry ice in the passenger compartment is DANGEROUS and definitely NOT recommended because the resulting carbon dioxide gas can displace the available oxygen creating a hazardous situation for people and pets. Adequate ventilation when using dry ice is essential!
- It’s much safer to use cargo areas in vehicles for your ice sculptures. That’s why they’re there! In a major accident, an unsecured ice sculpture in a passenger compartment is going to do a lot of damage, probably to YOU!
- Renting a small trailer and lining it with foam panels is something I’ve done a number of times when moving more than a couple of sculptures. Trailers are usually a rougher ride though, so protect your ice accordingly.
- Finally, if your vehicle has heated seats, turn them OFF if ice will be sitting on them (from personal experience)…
links and stuff
Note: If I recall correctly, Rich Bubin presented some of this info at a tradeshow seminar a years ago, so thanks goes to him for sharing the info!
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