How the giant Overwatch statues were made

In the days preceding the launch of Overwatch, enormous statues of Tracer, Pharah, and Genji hit the streets of Hollywood, Paris, and Busan. Aiman Akhtar, a 3D Artist at Alliance Studio, has provided a behind-the-scenes glimpse at their construction from concept to finished product.

The process of creating the “Colossal Collectible” statues involved work in many different mediums — 3D modeling to turn Overwatch models into action figures, 3D printed to quickly produce the various pieces, hands-on work to clean, sand, and paint each piece down to the finest detail, not to mention the electrical work involved in the built-in lights and sounds. All told, a total if six different companies collaborated on the project. When fully assembled, complete with internal fiberglass support structure, standing platform, and inch-thick acrylic plastic case, each statue weighed upwards of 5,500 pounds. Shipping a three-ton statue overseas (along with a crew to assemble it on-site) is one hell of a task — and it had to be done with both Pharah and Genji. Tracer, at least, remained within Alliance Studio’s home state of California.

We highly recommend checking out the full write-up. Aiman Akhtar provides a brilliant look into what’s involved in producing such wonderful monstrosities.