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.

sa国际传媒淭hat piece alone puts me on another level on the world stage as an artist,sa国际传媒� Stone said.

Itsa国际传媒檚 the second dragon hesa国际传媒檚 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 sa国际传媒渦nbelievablesa国际传媒� and he wanted one for his roundabout at his home, recalled Stone.

sa国际传媒淚 said sa国际传媒榊ou know, I could build anything. It doesnsa国际传媒檛 have to be an eagle,sa国际传媒� and he said sa国际传媒榃hat about a Game of Thrones dragon?sa国际传媒� I didnsa国际传媒檛 even know what Game of Thrones was when he said that, I just heard sa国际传媒榙ragon.sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒�

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

sa国际传媒淥nce I saw Drogon, I realized I kind of bit off more than I could chew for what the quote was.sa国际传媒�

Stone and Focht agreed on a price tag of $110,000 USDsa国际传媒� before Stone knew anything about Drogon.

He didnsa国际传媒檛 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.

sa国际传媒淕otta have fire, itsa国际传媒檚 a dragon,sa国际传媒� 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.

sa国际传媒淚 did two things: I underbid it by a long shot and I overbuilt it because I got carried away.sa国际传媒�

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.

sa国际传媒淢ost of itsa国际传媒檚 all just visualsa国际传媒� and then I just start building.sa国际传媒�

He literally looks at pictures and then constructs it.

How?

sa国际传媒淚 donsa国际传媒檛 know,sa国际传媒� he admitted.

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

sa国际传媒淚 wanted a big dragon so I started with the mouth,sa国际传媒� he explained, sa国际传媒渁nd I built the head.sa国际传媒�

He plunked the head on a stand.

sa国际传媒淚 went up on a ladder and looked down at the head and tried to visualize it on the floor. Then I took kidssa国际传媒� chalk and I drew it out on the floor sa国际传媒� how long his neck would be, how fat his body needed to be.sa国际传媒�

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. Itsa国际传媒檚 made of heat-treated steel.

sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檝e turned what should have been easily a one-year job into a two-year job,sa国际传媒� 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 didnsa国际传媒檛 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.

sa国际传媒淚 would like to see him go to an indoor place like a museum where hesa国际传媒檚 protected from the elements and would last. Hesa国际传媒檚 going into the most extreme of elements now.sa国际传媒�

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.

sa国际传媒淗esa国际传媒檚 going to be under a lot of physical stress. Itsa国际传媒檚 good that I built him so strong,sa国际传媒� Stone said. sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 not worried about him actually breaking, itsa国际传媒檚 the fatigue on the wings. You could start seeing welds crack eventually.sa国际传媒�

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 sa国际传媒� one called sa国际传媒榩earl of the oceansa国际传媒� and the other sa国际传媒榳arrior angel.sa国际传媒�

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With business booming, itsa国际传媒檚 been hard to fit all the projects in the space so hesa国际传媒檒l be moving to a different workshop in Chilliwack in the new year. Currently hesa国际传媒檚 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 Osa国际传媒橲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 dragonsa国际传媒檚 belly and yousa国际传媒檒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.

sa国际传媒淥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,sa国际传媒� Stone said.

Unlike the real Drogon in Game of Thrones, Stonesa国际传媒檚 Drogon doesnsa国际传媒檛 reign fire. Rather, the flames that shoot out of his mouth last just a few seconds, but itsa国际传媒檚 still very impressive.

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

No one, not even Stone, has seen the dragon intact since itsa国际传媒檚 too big to fit in his workshop with the tail on. Hesa国际传媒檚 hoping Focht will fly him down to help install it where he can see Drogon in all its glory.

sa国际传媒淲hen I first built the Chinese dragon I thought, sa国际传媒楬ow am I ever going to top this?sa国际传媒� Now I have this and I think this one tops that one. Whatsa国际传媒檚 next?sa国际传媒�