You won’t be surprised to learn that we jumped at the chance to create a giant cereal box, complete with giant cereal pieces and chocolate chunks.

Don’t worry, it’s not quite as odd as it sounds. We were asked to make this giant cereal box creation as a promotion for a new ride at Alton Towers, sponsored by Kellog’s Krave cereal. So we made it, delivered it and installed it to the theme park – making sure it looked good enough to eat.

The CAD drawings

For this project we started by drawing up AutoCAD drawings before fabricating the decking that the giant cereal and chocolate props were to sit on.

The metal work

As with many of the larger structures we build, we begin with a metal armature or frame. This frame made the basis for the floor and the giant cereal packet. We clad the packet and floor with 1 marine ply and then applied a laminated printed vinyl.

Applying the vinyl

Here we are applying the vinyl to the large cereal packet. Because the unit was to be outside for a number of weeks everything had to be waterproof and the vinyl used was laminated with a protective lay

The polystyrene sculpt

We wanted the finish on the fibreglass cereal pieces to be nice and crisp so we moulded and cast them, even though there was only one of each of the pieces, but we know that a cast from a mould is way better than a coated polystyrene object because of the fine detail that is retained.

The cast fibreglass set of chocolate and cereal pieces

Here are the fibreglass pieces all ready for primer, being tested to make sure that they fit on to the stand prior to painting.

Chocolate pieces

Chocolate pieces just sprayed with the lacquer to make them look glossy and to protect them from the elements.

A chocolatey cereal

We think that this looks almost good enough to eat, although this cereal has a mouth of its own, so maybe it would eat us.

On site at Alton Towers

The whole unit on site at Alton Towers to promote a new ride, sponsored by its sponsor Kellog’s

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  The CAD drawings

  For this project we started by drawing up AutoCAD drawings before fabricating the decking that the giant cereal and chocolate props were to sit on.
• <

  >
  

  The metal work

  As with many of the larger structures we build, we begin with a metal armature or frame. This frame made the basis for the floor and the giant cereal packet. We clad the packet and floor with 1 marine ply and then applied a laminated printed vinyl.
• <

  >
  

  Applying the vinyl

  Here we are applying the vinyl to the large cereal packet. Because the unit was to be outside for a number of weeks everything had to be waterproof and the vinyl used was laminated with a protective lay
• <

  >
  

  The polystyrene sculpt

  We wanted the finish on the fibreglass cereal pieces to be nice and crisp so we moulded and cast them, even though there was only one of each of the pieces, but we know that a cast from a mould is way better than a coated polystyrene object because of the fine detail that is retained.
• <

  >
  

  The cast fibreglass set of chocolate and cereal pieces

  Here are the fibreglass pieces all ready for primer, being tested to make sure that they fit on to the stand prior to painting.
• <

  >
  

  Chocolate pieces

  Chocolate pieces just sprayed with the lacquer to make them look glossy and to protect them from the elements.
• <

  >
  

  A chocolatey cereal

  We think that this looks almost good enough to eat, although this cereal has a mouth of its own, so maybe it would eat us.
• <

  >
  

  On site at Alton Towers

  The whole unit on site at Alton Towers to promote a new ride, sponsored by its sponsor Kellog’s

What we had to do

We needed to recreate the Kellogg’s Krave packaging exactly, as well as make oversized cereal and chocolate pieces that matched the texture of the real things – but that wasn’t our biggest challenge.

The real challenge was the complex metal work needed for the main cylindrical base that each of these giant props was going to be displayed on. Not only did it have to be structurally sound, but it also had to come apart for the ease of transportation, and then easily fit back together again.

How we did it

To make sure everything looked and worked in the way that we envisaged, we had to work to exact CAD drawings for the base.

In the end – thanks to the team’s hard work and dedication – the complicated base of a 4 metre diameter could come apart and fit back together again seamlessly on site, and it looked great when it was all assembled!