Indonesian Company Builds Wooden Mercedes Car Sculptures
No oil leaks or electrical gremlins on these classics, just watch out for termites.
Art is subjective. Where one person finds beauty and meaning, another could find absolutely nothing redeeming. I think all of us, though, would be impressed by the work of sculptor Moch Noor Afianto.
Afianto and his associates run Detailed Craft, an Indonesian firm that specializes in wooden sculpture. Their main specialty is full-scale wooden replicas of cars and motorcycles, including this 300SL Gullwing.
Although their Facebook Page states that Detailed Craft can create any model in any scale, we’d love to be the proud owner of a full-size wooden Mercedes-Benz.
If you’ve ever tried to mold clay to a shape, you understand how difficult it is to create something that resembles what you have in mind. Wood is even more resilient and less forgiving, requiring the steady hand and eye for detail only a true artisan possesses.
Focused less on absolutely perfect replicas, it seems that Afianto instead intends to capture the true spirit of a car’s shape by subtly exaggerating some proportions awhile slightly downplaying others. It’s a distinction that most would not even notice unless the real car and the model were beside each other.
The end result is a model that looks exactly like the car it’s replicating, but with more soul and passion. In both the literal and figurative sense, the form is inherently organic in nature.
Each lovingly handcrafted sculpture is painstakingly carved to represent the essence of the cars’s shape. It’s almost as much a love letter to the original designer of the car as it is a real, physical work of art.
But a sculpture it is, the work of a true craftsman. Would you make space in your home or your garage for one of Detailed Craft’s wooden sculptures? What car would you choose to have replicated in wood?
