Drogon is ready to land at his new home.

The 15,000-pound, fire-breathing Game of Thrones steel dragon made by a Chilliwack artist is finally ready to be shipped to Utah.

It took two years for metal sculptor Kevin Stone to build Drogon, one of the dragons in the popular HBO TV series, for a man who commissioned the piece.

And even though he lost financially in the end, he said he still won.

The marketing and advertising generated from posting photos and videos to social media of Drogon resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in new projects.

含羞草研究社淭hat piece alone puts me on another level on the world stage as an artist,含羞草研究社� Stone said.

It含羞草研究社檚 the second dragon he含羞草研究社檚 made. The first one was a Chinese dragon built in 2009, but he always wanted to build a fire-breathing dragon.

In 2019, that day finally came.

He got a call from a man named Matthew Focht who was at Dollywood standing in front of an eagle that Stone made. Focht said the eagle was 含羞草研究社渦nbelievable含羞草研究社� and he wanted one for his roundabout at his home, recalled Stone.

含羞草研究社淚 said 含羞草研究社榊ou know, I could build anything. It doesn含羞草研究社檛 have to be an eagle,含羞草研究社� and he said 含羞草研究社榃hat about a Game of Thrones dragon?含羞草研究社� I didn含羞草研究社檛 even know what Game of Thrones was when he said that, I just heard 含羞草研究社榙ragon.含羞草研究社櫤�羞草研究社�

Stone and his wife Michelle then binge-watched the series (all but one season) in about a week.

含羞草研究社淥nce I saw Drogon, I realized I kind of bit off more than I could chew for what the quote was.含羞草研究社�

Stone and Focht agreed on a price tag of $110,000 USD含羞草研究社� before Stone knew anything about Drogon.

He didn含羞草研究社檛 realize how many horns and spikes were on the dragon and how difficult they would be to make, in addition to other details like scales, fins and wings.

Plus Focht wanted it to breathe fire.

含羞草研究社淕otta have fire, it含羞草研究社檚 a dragon,含羞草研究社� Stone said.

As he added more and more details and features, the project snowballed. The $110,000 USD paid for the materials, but not the labour.

含羞草研究社淚 did two things: I underbid it by a long shot and I overbuilt it because I got carried away.含羞草研究社�

If anyone were to ask Stone how he built his 15,000-pound steel dragon that stands 30 feet tall (with the tail mounted), is 55 feet long and 45 feet wide, they might be surprised with his reply.

含羞草研究社淢ost of it含羞草研究社檚 all just visual含羞草研究社� and then I just start building.含羞草研究社�

He literally looks at pictures and then constructs it.

How?

含羞草研究社淚 don含羞草研究社檛 know,含羞草研究社� he admitted.

Well, Stone does have 33 years experience in the metal industry.

含羞草研究社淚 wanted a big dragon so I started with the mouth,含羞草研究社� he explained, 含羞草研究社渁nd I built the head.含羞草研究社�

He plunked the head on a stand.

含羞草研究社淚 went up on a ladder and looked down at the head and tried to visualize it on the floor. Then I took kids含羞草研究社� chalk and I drew it out on the floor 含羞草研究社� how long his neck would be, how fat his body needed to be.含羞草研究社�

Once he visualized that and measured the chalk drawing, he figured out how big the tubular frame would be from the neck to the tail. He calculated that the ring-shaped supports needed to be placed three feet apart and would gradually get bigger in size from the neck to the body and then decrease towards the tail.

He started Drogon in October 2020 and finished it in December 2022. It含羞草研究社檚 made of heat-treated steel.

含羞草研究社淚含羞草研究社檝e turned what should have been easily a one-year job into a two-year job,含羞草研究社� he said.

Granted, there were some bumps in the road.

In April 2021, he was forced to move the dragon from an automotive shop near downtown Chilliwack to his current workshop near Yarrow.

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Then earlier in 2022, he stopped working on it for at least six months when he realized the dragon didn含羞草研究社檛 have a home.

Focht was living in California at the time of the deal in 2019 and later sold his house to live on a yacht with his family for a year. When Focht bought a house in Utah and Stone realized Drogon had a new home, he went back to work on the dragon.

But the new location did bring up a concern.

含羞草研究社淚 would like to see him go to an indoor place like a museum where he含羞草研究社檚 protected from the elements and would last. He含羞草研究社檚 going into the most extreme of elements now.含羞草研究社�

Drogon was supposed to be installed in California in a driveway and now the sculpture is going to the mountains of Utah where there are 100-mile-per-hour winds. The tail and wings are like giant sails, he said.

含羞草研究社淗e含羞草研究社檚 going to be under a lot of physical stress. It含羞草研究社檚 good that I built him so strong,含羞草研究社� Stone said. 含羞草研究社淚含羞草研究社檓 not worried about him actually breaking, it含羞草研究社檚 the fatigue on the wings. You could start seeing welds crack eventually.含羞草研究社�

During the six-month period he paused work on Drogon, Stone was busy building other projects.

The popularity of the fire-breathing dragon grew and grew as the months went by. Mostly thanks to Drogon, Stone took on several more projects over the past two years including: three eagles, an Elon Musk head, a T. Rex, and two abstract pieces 含羞草研究社� one called 含羞草研究社榩earl of the ocean含羞草研究社� and the other 含羞草研究社榳arrior angel.含羞草研究社�

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With business booming, it含羞草研究社檚 been hard to fit all the projects in the space so he含羞草研究社檒l be moving to a different workshop in Chilliwack in the new year. Currently he含羞草研究社檚 in 2,850 square foot building with 14-foot ceilings near Yarrow. The new space is 8,600 square feet with 20-foot high ceilings.

He also hired two young tradesmen to help him. For the past several months, Josh Guretzki and Brandon O含羞草研究社橲hea have been welding, shaping and hammering Drogon to perfection alongside Stone and his wife Michelle.

Over the past few weeks the team has been putting the final touches on the dragon including painting it with Penatrol, an oil-based coating that prevents the steel from rusting.

In early December, Stone got the propane puffer system up and running so it can shoot fire remotely. Open up the dragon含羞草研究社檚 belly and you含羞草研究社檒l find a propane tank, valves, charging system, 12-volt battery and and a computer system.

The whole thing is controlled by a key fob.

含羞草研究社淥ne button would turn the valves on and get the gas going, the next button would trigger the sparkers for the pilot lights, and you hit the trunk key to shoot fire,含羞草研究社� Stone said.

Unlike the real Drogon in Game of Thrones, Stone含羞草研究社檚 Drogon doesn含羞草研究社檛 reign fire. Rather, the flames that shoot out of his mouth last just a few seconds, but it含羞草研究社檚 still very impressive.

Drogon will be shipped at a cost of $31,000 USD in January. It will take three trucks 含羞草研究社� one for the body, one for the tail, and one for the wings 含羞草研究社� to haul it south on the 2,000-kilometre journey to Toquerville, Utah.

No one, not even Stone, has seen the dragon intact since it含羞草研究社檚 too big to fit in his workshop with the tail on. He含羞草研究社檚 hoping Focht will fly him down to help install it where he can see Drogon in all its glory.

含羞草研究社淲hen I first built the Chinese dragon I thought, 含羞草研究社楬ow am I ever going to top this?含羞草研究社� Now I have this and I think this one tops that one. What含羞草研究社檚 next?含羞草研究社�