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• Army of Doughboy

  18May
  Categories: Brand Icons, Portfolio, Presentation Comments: 0

  These 8 inch tall maquettes were sculpted to be the official look of the Pillsbury Doughboy for licensing purposes. Producing silicone molds from the sculpture, multiples were then cast in house and painted. These are sent out to companies that want to license the Doughboy image for products such as this. Any reproductions are to be based on the likeness of these maquettes.

  

  Later we used the molds to cast hundreds of copies, but painted them gold. Attached them to thicker bases with engraved plaques. They were then handed out to General Mills/Pillsbury employees as an achievement award.

  

  Tags: awards, doughboy, general mills, maquette, pillsbury, pillsbury doughboy, poppin fresh

• Giant Troll Doll Toupee

  18May
  Categories: Brand Icons, Portfolio, Signage Comments: 1

  Preston Kelly wanted to add some dimension to these Grand Casino billboards featuring the iconic Troll Doll. So we essentially made giant Troll Doll wigs. Each one is 16 feet wide and rise 5 feet above the billboard. They are constructed of a plywood support backing with foam that was then carved. The whole sculpture is then coated with a plastic shell and painted.
  Two of them were fabricated and both were installed within the last week by the fine folks at Clear Channel.
  One can be found on Northbound I-94 near Rogers, Mn for Grand Casino Mille Lacs. The other is near the 694/35E split in Vadnais Heights, Mn for Grand Casino Hinckley .

  The I-94 billboard.

  Step 1: Construct the reinforced plywood backbone.

  Step 2: Adhere the plywood and foam together, making them one.

  Step 3: Start carving away at the foam like a madman finding his way out of a snow storm.

  Step 4: Coat with a durable plastic shell, put your shades on and paint it bright pink.

  Step 5: It gets installed and you adventure out for a night picture.

  Tags: clear channel outdoors, dam dolls, giant troll, gonks, grand casino, hinckley, kewpie doll, leprocauns, mille lacs, minnesota, norfins, preston kelly, rogers, treasure dolls, troll doll, troll hair, troll toupee, troll wig, vadnais heights, wishniks

• Mice, Beware!

  22Mar
  Categories: Miniatures, Scenic Comments: 1

  Shotgun toting feline on the loose. What does this have to do with NK-1 Class Soybeans by Syngenta?  Click the image below for the full ad.
  

  

  Photography by Rick Dublin, agency is Campbell Mithun. Product is NK-1 Class Soybeans from Syngenta.

  

  We fabricated a corner of an old farm house room as a small set piece with hand aged flooring and custom trim with man made mouse hole. mnfx also produced the cat sized shotgun for the image by hand carving a walnut stock, adding a few custom laser cut parts and a couple of pvc tubes. It’s a fun ad that also won first place in the Region lll Best of NAMA for Single Page Ad.

  Tags: best of, campbell mithun, cat, cat shotgun, farm house, feline, first place, mouse hole, nama, National Agri-Marketing Association, nk soybean, nk-1 soybean, region 3, rick dublin, shotgun, syngenta

• Try The Idea Helmet On For Size

  22Mar
  Categories: Portfolio, Table Top Props, Tradeshow Comments: 0

  On this campaign for Print It, A Navitor company, we fabricated the Idea Helmet. Initial design of  the helmet and campaign was developed by Hunt Adkins. The final image photography by Curtis Johnson.

  

  Below is the where it all started. After receiving the initial layout from Hunt Adkins. mnfx did the following basic rendering before starting any construction.

  

  After the drawing was approved. We started fabricating the basic shape and components of the helmet. Here the major parts are primed before getting painted. Then some of the finer detail components are added and test fit along with guitar cables, electrical wiring and circuit boards.

  

  

  Once all the parts were produced and test fit. We pulled out the spray gun equipment and paint. The shell of the helmet has a black lacquer finish. While the gold parts had a 5-step paint system applied.

  
  

  

  All the components painted, fastened together and ready for a trip to the photo studio. Rub down graphics were applied for additional detail. A construction helmet was embedded for fitting the Idea Helmet onto the model. The Idea Helmet was then put on display at various tradeshows.

  

  

  Tags: curtis johnson, design aids, graphic artists aid, hunt adkins, idea helmet, mnfx, Navitor company, print it, print it center

• The Reveal XT Hits The Big Time

  22Jan
  Categories: Tradeshow Comments: 0

  Medtronic wanted to showcase the Reveal XT¹ Insertable Cardiac Monitor (ICM) for tradeshow use. But it’s hard to capture a passers-by attention when a product the size of a thumb drive can easily be overlooked. But if it’s almost fifteen times larger than life, that has a little different visual impact.

  The actual Reveal XT cowering beneath the enlarged version.

  Working off a supplied demo device and CAD drawings, we fabricated the 36 inch long version of the Reveal XT². The body is made of Sintra PVC sheet and prototyping board. The clear cap is made of two vacuum formed PETG shells. The electrodes, brackets and stand are machined from aluminum. A road case was fitted with custom shaped foam inserts so the Reveal XT³ can travel the world safely and in style.

  

  Tags: cardiac monitor, icm, medtronic, oversized model, reveal, reveal dx, reveal xt, Tradeshow

• Follow The White Rabbits!

  05Dec
  Categories: Brand Icons, Other Comments: 2

  For this campaign we were asked by Fallon to produce over 50 white rabbit masks. They were used for the street promotion of SyFy channels ‘Alice’ miniseries, a modern adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland‘.

  First we made three heads with straps for acrobats to wear for capturing video footage, which is used in the videos that were projected onto buildings and used for interactive web applications.  Then we started production on 55 more rabbit heads that were shipped to New York and used in the street performances. One was also sent to 30 Rock for photographing the White Rabbit in everyday activities.

  For pictures and video of the actual campaign in action, visit these two pages at NOTCOT.com:  Fallon’s Alice Campaign for SyFy and Day in the Life of The White Rabbit.  See more videos on YouTube.com.

  

  The group photo before being packed into boxes for their journey to New York.

  

  

  The masks are made of cast latex and backed with soft foam for structure and fit. The slots cut from the rabbits mouth allowed the performers to see.

  

  Each rabbit head was supplied with a hood and mask to cover the performers mouth and neck. The mask is made of latex with a metallic paint finish. It attached to the hood with velcro.

  Tags: alice, alice in wonderland, alice's adventures in wonderland, dancing rabbit, fallon, follow the white rabbit, latex mask, lewis carroll, new york, rabbit, rabbit mask, street performance, syfy, the white rabbit, union square, white rabbits

• Castle Stomping Fun!

  29Sep
  Categories: Miniatures, Table Top Props Comments: 0

  This was one of those tough, grueling photo shoots. The kind where you spend the whole day at the beach playing in sand. Here we made a smashed sand castle by carving the various wrecked castle components from EPS foam and applying sand to them.  Then it was set up on Lake Nokomis Main Beach with a pneumatic sand cannon buried behind the castle to launch the sand plume into the air. The ad is for Arctic Cat snowmobiles with photography by Kyle Johnson-MacPherson of Periscope.

  

  Tags: arctic cat, beach, kyle johnson macpherson, lake nokomis, periscope, sand castle, sled, snow suit, snowmobile

• Metro Transit Parachuting Apples

  29Sep
  Categories: Miniatures, Table Top Props Comments: 0

  This image was for Metro Transit, which serves the Minneapolis and St. Paul region. We created a miniature parachute with a harness that could be fastened to an apple. It also had rigging so it could be suspended from overhead. The parachute is fabricated from a thin transparent plastic that we vacuum formed and then painted with translucent paints. Also did a second version that was crumpled a bit for the apple that has landed. We also supplied plastic grass for the image. Photography by Kyle Johnson-MacPherson of Periscope.

  

  Tags: apple, kyle johnson macpherson, metro transit, minneapolis, parachute, parachuting, periscope, skydiving, st. paul

• Tony of Tony’s Pizza

  29Sep
  Categories: Brand Icons Comments: 0

  The following sculptures of Tony were done for a series of ads for Tony’s Pizza, a Schwan Food Company brand.

  

  Tony  bowing in worship to the king of frozen pizza. Also sculpted the pillow and crown.

  

  Shouldn’t everyone have a slice in their back pocket.

  

  Showing the heft of the Tony’s Deep Dish pizza.

  

  Originally posed to hold a Tony’s pizza box, but here he holds one of our old business cards.

  Tags: deep dish, frozen pizza, schwan food, schwans, tony, tonys pizza

• Purina Hi Pro

  28Sep
  Categories: Brand Icons, Table Top Props Comments: 0

  A pair of props done for Purina Hi Pro dog food.  The first image was created by making a custom printed bag so it had structure to stand upright and capable of having the gas pump mounted to it.  The second image is of the packaging as a battery.  The battery was built about 18 inches tall with machined terminals and custom applied graphics.

  

  

  Tags: battery, dog food, gas pump, hi pro, purina