Republic’s Chuck the Rex

I was commissioned by Republic to document the build and unveiling of a nearly 20 foot tall t-rex marionette, ‘Chuck the Rex’, and his inaugural outing at Republic’s anti-monarchy rally in Trafalgar Square in April 2024.

The design and build was carried out by Protest Props based in East London, who brought in an array of help, from family members to colleagues working in various creative industries.

Chuck’s skeleton was fabricated largely of bamboo and willow, both being lightweight and durable, and the skin was a double layered papier-mâché of craft paper and green ripstop canvass, creating a waterproof skin that could withstand a literal kicking. The skin was originally going to be painted by a professional set decorator Ellen Forbes who painted the eyes, but the green colour, overlapping irregular strips and wrinkling (all side effects of time-crunch) was a happy accident that provided a naturalistic finish.