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It’s almost finished! A little over two years ago –back when the arguments over the “proper” use of Kickstarter were more quaint– a group of artists and fabricators used the platform to pitch a new statue to stand tall for Detroit pride… not a car, not a giant motown record, but a part man, part machine, all cop tribute to the city’s own personal, mechanical Jesus.

image-202682-fullThe Kickstarter for a Robocop statue in Detroit then raised $67,000 and now, 26 months later, the full-size cast for the statue stands ready to be forged in bronze!

You can check out the Kickstarter page to see a ton of more pictures, as well as get some insight into how this things was made. Sculpting, scanning, digital enlarging, 3D printing… some very cool work went into this, and I think the results speak for themselves. These guys did a pretty awesome thing. Oh, and if you have 8 grand laying around and want a statue for yourself, you can get a slightly less badass but still cool 1:1 Robocop replica here.

Wouldn’t it be a great thing if 20 years from now analysts in a revitalized Detroit were pointing to the erection of this statue as the turning point for the downtrodden city?

NOTE: That “great thing” I mention seems unlikely, as a sad article over at Jalopnik juxtaposes the statue’s completion with extremely dire financial news from the city. Something like this may seem like bread & circuses at such a time, but this is a small company trying to do a uniquely inspiring thing, and one that will likely contribute to their business in the process. It’s the accumulation of small, prideful efforts like this that can help over the long-term…