# Giant Statue - Kickstarter help **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 12, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664 "2015-08-12T15:39:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/1 "2015-08-12T15:39:05Z")
I have a dream. One day I would like to construct a giant statue of a man holding a croquet mallet in East St. Louis Illinois, across the Mississippi from St. Louis. My chances of ever doing this seemed to be somewhere between never-gonna-happen and definitely-never-gonna-happen. But in this new internet age people accomplish all sorts of things through crowd sourcing. I don’t know how much this would cost. The statue would have to be over 2500 feet tall to have the right proportions, and at that height it would be worth a few more feet to make it the tallest man-made structure on earth. So if anyone understands this crowd sourcing process, or can make suggestions about the construction of such a huge statue I’d like to hear from you. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/2 "2015-08-12T15:45:42Z")
I would suggest that it be made out of copper and in the likeness of Godzilla. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/3 "2015-08-12T15:47:59Z")
The city could also build a new sphere shaped football stadium to keep the Rams in St. Louis. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/4 "2015-08-12T15:48:16Z")
The Colossus Of Fairmont? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/5 "2015-08-12T15:49:28Z")
People would be confused as to why the haft of Mjolnir was so long. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/6 "2015-08-13T17:12:32Z")
I guess everyone thought this was a joke. Well it could be a great joke if we can get the statue built! Anyone have experience with Kickstarter? Do I need to know what this will cost up front? It’s going to be expensive, engineering the world’s largest structure can’t be inexpensive, and the actual construction costs will be much higher. Could I just try to raise $1 million for the planning stages? How about suggestions for the statue design? Since this first occurred to me I imagined a non-descript man, but now I’m thinking a woman with a long dress will be a better structural design. Maybe something like this [Gibson Girl](http://wps.ablongman.com/wps/media/objects/2661/2725147/images/Resources/w040.jpg)with a mallet instead of a golf club. Structural engineering advice will be welcome also. How’s the ground in E. St. Louis, is this an alluvial plane or is there bedrock near the surface? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/7 "2015-08-13T17:49:15Z")
With a big enough fan, you could do a version in [this medium.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airdancer#/media/File:Sky-dancer-japan.jpg) Surely it’d be cheaper than any metal, and the weight load would be lots less. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/8 "2015-08-13T18:51:30Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > With a big enough fan, you could do a version in [this medium.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airdancer#/media/File:Sky-dancer-japan.jpg) Surely it’d be cheaper than any metal, and the weight load would be lots less. Winds aloft would make a soft-sided structure like that look like a certain tower in Pisa. In the event of a power failure, it would cover quite a large radius. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/9 "2015-08-13T18:59:14Z")
Don’t bother me with details - I’m just offering the big idea! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/10 "2015-08-13T19:08:40Z")
Not interested, sorry. Now, if he/she were holding a giant salmon croquette - then you’d have something! ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/11 "2015-08-13T19:36:47Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > **With a big enough fan** , you could do a version in [this medium.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airdancer#/media/File:Sky-dancer-japan.jpg) Surely it’d be cheaper than any metal, and the weight load would be lots less. If we had some ham, we could have ham and eggs, if we had some eggs. I think the engineering of the fan would be as challenging as the statue. > [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Don’t bother me with details - I’m just offering the big idea! > [@Sundance Kid](#): > > You just keep thinkin’, Butch. That’s what you’re good at. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/12 "2015-08-13T20:02:54Z")
It’s not that bad an idea. Instead of a humongous fan it could be done with hot air. It’s still a bit risky having something that big, but another approach is to take advantage of the perspective from distance and the guy does haven’t to be that tall if you take a picture near the statue facing west. I’m going to keep this in mind in case nothing else pans out. Thanks F **airyChatMom** , I appreciate your effort. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/13 "2015-08-13T20:35:10Z")
You may get some competition for donations from the English guys who are looking to [raise $2.8 billion to build a full-size replica of Minas Tirith](http://theweek.com/speedreads/571512/architects-promise-build-lifesize-replica-city-from-lord-rings--fork-over-28-billion). ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/14 "2015-08-13T20:43:33Z")
Will people be able to climb on it / get all up in her skirt? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/15 "2015-08-13T20:49:17Z")
India’s Statue of Unity (currently under construction) has a budget that’s the equivalent of US$460 million. That statue will be 597 feet tall. Your statue will be over four times that height. And also over four times the width and breadth. So let’s say it’ll be sixty-four times the size of the Statue of Unity. Assuming you can scale up the cost directly, that gives you a budget goal of $29,440,000,000. Let’s round it off to an even thirty billion dollars. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/16 "2015-08-13T20:50:02Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > How’s the ground in E. St. Louis, is this an alluvial plane or is there bedrock near the surface? Isn’t it close enough to the New Madrid Fault that a major earthquake could topple any statue that high? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/17 "2015-08-13T20:55:29Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Isn’t it close enough to the New Madrid Fault that a major earthquake could topple any statue that high? Wow! Pretty close I guess. Inflatable’s looking better. Or maybe I should concentrate on visual perspective for the effect. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/18 "2015-08-13T22:50:50Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I have a dream. One day I would like to construct a giant statue of a man holding a croquet mallet in East St. Louis Illinois, across the Mississippi from St. Louis. … I like it. When you actually get around to it, let me know. I’ll chip in. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/19 "2015-08-14T00:13:03Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I have a dream. One day I would like to construct a giant statue of a man holding a croquet mallet in East St. Louis Illinois, across the Mississippi from St. Louis. . . . . Across the Mississippi from the arch (and that’s the only view uncluttered enough to be worth while) is the rest of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. So before you can kick the starter, you’d have to get permission to build your statue there. And I’m pretty sure you’re going to need a complete design before they’ll even think about permitting it. On the other hand - on those memorial grounds there is a three story spiral viewing platform on a raised wedge of earth, pointed right at the arch. (Thank you Google Earth.) It has a wonderful view. It lifts viewers above the levee, above the railroad tracks, and probably even above the big electrical wires. I’m sure that if you studied the angles, you could build something light that could be temporarily strapped to or held against the railing while you take some good pictures, perhaps even a video. With camera angles working for you, you could probably use a smaller figure (or figures - why stop at one). The first step is to get two people to go to the memorial viewing platform - one with a camera and one with a yardstick. They can photograph the yardstick from different angles. I hate to say it, but a phone and a long selfie-stick may be needed. After that we can talk about a design. Do we have two Missouri dopers willing to angle for a dream? Who knows, if the photos/video ends up looking good, you’ve got a demonstration of concept to take to the National Park Service or whoever else is running the memorial. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664/20 "2015-08-14T13:11:24Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It’s not that bad an idea. Instead of a humongous fan it could be done with hot air. It’s still a bit risky having something that big, but another approach is to take advantage of the perspective from distance and the guy does haven’t to be that tall if you take a picture near the statue facing west. > > I’m going to keep this in mind in case nothing else pans out. Thanks F **airyChatMom** , I appreciate your effort. Hot air probably wouldn’t work for a couple of reasons. Your best bet in the inflatable is an LTA gas. You’d be limited to helium, which is quite expensive, as I don’t see the authorities allowing you to do one of the others, for safety reasons. Also, I don’t think the ‘airdancer’ shape that **Moommm** referenced would work. It would probably need to be more lollipop shaped & a [spherical](http://thecentralline.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/lollipops-3473.jpg) shape rather than the [pancake](http://www.towngreendistrict.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/lollipop-390x600.jpg) shape at that, though I still think a metal version would be better for longevity purposes. **Little Nemo** , surely there’s _some_ economies of scale; don’t think it’ll be a penny over $27B. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-statue-kickstarter-help/727664.md?page=2)