We were blown away by the quality of entries we received during the first month of our We Make It Sic! competition powered by Bosch and Dremel. And although each and every submission was impressive for their own reason, after much consideration by the judges, Ian Van Driesche has been selected as the first monthly winner for his two amazingly hand-crafted surf dioramas.

Ian’s second diorama entry is a replica of a 2005 cover of Longboard Magazine, which features an illustration of a surfer racing out of the tube wearing a traditional pa’u and a lei.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that other existing entries, such as Liam Bulgen’s Re-purposed Fins, or Tyler Somers’ wooden crafts like the Hand Planer and Fishtail Penny Board, or Taylor Nash’s Homemade Alaia aren’t in the running for the grand prize. However, Ian’s effort is certainly noted and makes him a well deserved victor for the first round of giveaways.

We caught up with Ian to get the low down on how he goes about making these intricate models:

“This size  of diorama (70 cm in length X  40cm in width X 34 cm in height) takes about six weeks to make. I use two types of clear resin and ‘Pebeo’ ceramic and vitrail paints. The surfer-figurine was morphed out of three Todd McFarlane 6-inch figs. I sculpted the hair with putty (but I’m still hoping to find a face to scale with more likeness). Obviously I use a Bosch-blowdryer to remove air-bubbles in resin if need be, and a Dremel to work on the figurine.” – Ian.

A closer view of the diorama.

Ian’s first entry, depicting an unidentified surfer where we all want to be, getting some good old time in the green room.

Ian’s hard work earns him a Dremel trio kit to assist with future projects. There’s still plenty of time left with a grand prize of R30 000 worth of tools to be won in the three categories: Functionality, Innovation and Craftsmanship. So get creative because we wanna see you Make it Sic! Looking for some inspiration? There are plenty of excellent entries to check out and draw from right here.

The Dremel trio kit that Ian walks away with.

THE FINEPRINT:
• Any creation that is somehow surfing related is eligible.
• However, if your products are already a registered business venture you can’t enter it.
• The entries can be any material; plastic, metal, wood, glass, etc.
• Multiple entries are allowed.
• Entries must be submitted to comps@zigzag.co.za
• Contestants can submit as many photos or videos as they like.
• Only persons residing in South Africa may enter.
• Prize winners are limited to winning 1 prize category each.