Models for Steelers Fans

[Bruzilla]

After the Steelers won Superbowl XL, I thought it would be cool to have a set of five Lombardi trophies as part of my Steelers wall. I looked around for months and could only find a few authorized copies at about $3,000 each (my wife said "no" to getting five of them... or even one), or some crappy ones that were on ebay that didn't look close to the real thing.

I decided I was going to have to make my own. I started with fullsize ceramic footballs from a ceramic shop in Buffalo, NY. They were made from a mold made from a regulation football, so they have the air valve, pebble grain, etc., that all needed to be sanded off.

I then had to come up with a way to make the three sided, concave-sided, base, which was a chore. I kept having problems making sides with a correct, consistent, curve to them. I finally realized that if you connect enough curves together you end up with a circle, and found I could make perfect sides using pieces cut from a round, smooth-sided, waste basket. I cut out three panels per trophy, joined the edges together, and I had my base. The top of the base fits into a hole cut in the bottom of the ball, and once the angle is right I join the two together with Great Stuff foam and epoxy clay.

They are painted with Rustoleum silver paint, but I'm going to try a harder chrome paint that's made for redoing car bumpers. BTW, the figures between the trophies are 12" McFarlane figures. Five are custom ones I did (Bleier, Swan, Bradshaw, Polomalu, and Ward) and one is the 12" Roethlisberger made by McFarlane.

Here we go Steelers, here we go!

 

[JMChladek]

Now that is pretty cool IMHO and you did a nice job. First rule of wanting something. If you don't have the cash, get creative. Excellent display IMHO and at a glance they look great!

I might have to do the same thing if I want a replica trophy for the Saints SB win (Roger Goodell can pucker up to my posterior baby!).

But let me ask you, have you ever considered taking one of these trophies to some of the players and having them finger print them up and kiss them so they look just as fondled as the originals?

 

[Bruzilla]

We've discussed that a lot, especially given Troy Polamalu's comments about thinking our six trophies should be displayed "sticky" instead of all polished up back in Pittsburgh. We take the trophies out to Steelers club events here in Jacksonville, so they do get fingerprinted up, but I clean them up before I put them back on the wall.

We go up to Heinz Field every April for a big fan event called Fan Blitz, and we were thinking of taking a trophy up there to get autographed, but they are bulky and heavy. I used to make smaller, 3/4-sized, replicas and we took six of them down to Tampa for SB XLIII, and we had them at a big Steelers bar down there. When we won the game we brought out the sixth one and we had people lining up for hours to have their pictures taken with them, but we learned fast that mixing trophies with drunk celebrators was a really bad idea and they kept getting knocked over (the trophies not the fans), so when I made the fullsized trophies I weighed down the bases with about 20 pounds of weight that makes them more drunk proof.

One funny thing was when we first joined the Steelers club here in Jacksonville we took one of the trophies out to the restaurant where we get together to watch the games, and my wife and I saw everyone sort of looking at us out the corner of their eyes, but no one would come up and say anything to us. As the game ended a couple came up to our table and asked if they could have their picture taken with the trophy and we said sure. Then they told us they had wanted to come over and say hi earlier but they saw we had a Lombardi trophy and that we must be with the Steelers and they didn't want to bother us. My wife started laughing and said "he made that in our garage!" Here they all thought it was a real trophy and we were some sort of team bigshots or something, which is why they didn't want to bother us. We told everyone it's just a replica, and they all came over and welcomed us to the club. It was pretty hilarious.

 

[youngwm]

They look awsome!!! Of course being from and living in Pittsburgh I am a huge steeler fan.. Great idea

 

[Supa troop]

im a UK Steeler Fan so i love this

 

[JMChladek]

Now that I would say is the definition of one of the coolest models ever. It looks so close to real that people think it is and when they figure out it is a replica, they STILL appreciate you for it. Nice!

 

[lharles]

After the Steelers won Superbowl XL, I thought it would be cool to have a set of five Lombardi trophies as part of my Steelers wall. I looked around for months and could only find a few authorized copies at about $3,000 each (my wife said "no" to getting five of them... or even one), or some crappy ones that were on ebay that didn't look close to the real thing.

I decided I was going to have to make my own. I started with fullsize ceramic footballs from a ceramic shop in Buffalo, NY. They were made from a mold made from a regulation football, so they have the air valve, pebble grain, etc., that all needed to be sanded off.

I then had to come up with a way to make the three sided, concave-sided, base, which was a chore. I kept having problems making sides with a correct, consistent, curve to them. I finally realized that if you connect enough curves together you end up with a circle, and found I could make perfect sides using pieces cut from a round, smooth-sided, waste basket. I cut out three panels per trophy, joined the edges together, and I had my base. The top of the base fits into a hole cut in the bottom of the ball, and once the angle is right I join the two together with Great Stuff foam and epoxy clay.

They are painted with Rustoleum silver paint, but I'm going to try a harder chrome paint that's made for redoing car bumpers. BTW, the figures between the trophies are 12" McFarlane figures. Five are custom ones I did (Bleier, Swan, Bradshaw, Polomalu, and Ward) and one is the 12" Roethlisberger made by McFarlane.

Here we go Steelers, here we go!

http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/ad128/bruzilla/wall4-1.jpg

I know this is totally a necro-post but --- YOUR WASTEBASKET IDEA IS GENIUS!!! Okay. Maybe I'm being a little overly dramatic.

I'm makin' a trophy for my Seahawks display & that bit of info was VERY helpful. ...& curse your Steelers for winning Superbowl XL.

...& apologies again for the necro-post.