my dragon ice tray was a fun piece for me and I’m looking forward to sculpting it again, especially with help from my CNC!
updated 7/12/23 with seo and formatting mostly
my dragon ice tray design for sushi & seafood
The sculpture requested was some sort of tray for sushi at a recent Air Force Base Commissary grand opening. So I came up with this dragon ice tray design where a mostly Asian-style dragon holds up the tray for sushi. My design has a couple of European dragon aspects, but it was primarily inspired by sculptures by Mitsuo Shimizu and other Japanese and Chinese sculptors.
after I’d sculpted my dragon ice tray, I felt like I could have added a little more detail to the tray itself. You can see the difference between photo and drawing.
My dragon ice tray requires at least one and a half standard Clinebell size (40”x20”x10”) blocks; one full block for the dragon and a half block slab for the tray. The line art reflects a few changes that I would make to the design, now that I’ve carved it once. The tray obviously needed a little embellishment, so details were added to the side of the tray. The head was changed slightly also, as were the legs and tail. But the basic design is unchanged and the assembly onsite went well with little difficulty, mostly since I had a plan.
Please note, you don’t have to get all the components out of the ice exactly according to the template. You can use scrap ice or whatever works for you. In this case, the template is a suggestion; at least regarding the components. To make the dragon’s body, the neck and tail components were added as shown below. These are aluminum welds and are done prior to cutting the ice out below the struts. The head and tail components are put aside, after they’re fully carved and checked for proper fit, along with the tray.
if you just look at the template, my dragon ice tray design seems intimidating indeed! But making your dragon ice tray isn’t as hard as it looks.
assembling the dragon ice tray
💠 The dragon’s body was put in place (in this particular case, it was in two pieces; see why below)
💠 The tray was welded to the body. Note that the decorative “wings” on the body extend out to the full block thickness, helping to keep the tray stable.
💠 The tail was welded on, using a small piece of aluminum. The body had become fairly warm by this point, but the tail was kept in a foam box and was still quite cold, making the weld a simple one.
💠 The head was attached. This was even easier than the tail attachment, because the head gets some support where the beard can touch the tray (not shown in the line art, however).
💠 The final step, cutting the transport struts, wasn’t done in this case. It probably would have been fine to cut them, but the sculpture was going to be put back into the freezer after a short event and used again the following day. Even though the entire display was simply going to be rolled into the freezer, I thought that it was better not to cut the struts this time. They weren’t very noticeable under the tray anyway.
a few notes on the design
💠 Make sure to cut drainage holes in the tray. Had I not made a few chainsaw cuts through the tray, then “sushi soup” would soon have been the result.
💠 The dragon’s body is intended to be transported as one piece. However, while moving the sculpture in the freezer, the body broke into two pieces right where the middle of the body touches the base. There’d been a fracture in the ice that had weakened that spot. The break actually made transport and set up a little easier, and it’s likely that nobody ever even noticed except for me.
💠 For the dragon’s scales, I used a simple crosshatch pattern that did not follow the serpent’s body. You can make the pattern follow the body, but I think you’ll drive yourself crazy trying to do so. Another option would be to do a different scale pattern.
💠 The tray in the design measures about 35 inches by 18 inches by 3 inches. Certainly, you can use other sizes, but the sculpture would have to be modified accordingly. Ensure that all the pieces fit together well while you still have it in the freezer and well before you set it up to eliminate surprises.
💠 The dragon’s tail could be a little longer, but then you start creating problems with both assembly and water dripping outside of the tray. The only drip points that might pose a problem are on the tail, on the ears, and on the neck of the dragon, right near the head.
links and stuff
There are a couple of other Asian-style dragons on the site, the “regular” Asian dragon and the bigger, meaner version. If you have any questions about my dragon ice tray 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 Instagram account and you can comment there as well as below. Thanks!
