http://davidlansing.com/bangkoks-golden-buddha/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bangkoks-golden-buddha travel writing from a modern-day flâneur Fri, 01 Aug 2014 18:49:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 http://davidlansing.com/bangkoks-golden-buddha/comment-page-1/#comment-10810 Fred Harwood Tue, 27 Aug 2013 22:52:09 +0000 http://davidlansing.com/?p=8323#comment-10810 Heh. So the question may be more about the claimed solidity of the statue. Still, disguising a free-form object of any size in plaster or cement would require perhaps 3 times more plaster than object. This rough calc suggests that the stony result would weigh much, even many times more tonnage than its hidden content. Perhaps also intriguing, what else was so disguised and remains undiscovered; has anyone speculated or looked? Story upon story? Heh. So the question may be more about the claimed solidity of the statue. Still, disguising a free-form object of any size in plaster or cement would require perhaps 3 times more plaster than object. This rough calc suggests that the stony result would weigh much, even many times more tonnage than its hidden content.
Perhaps also intriguing, what else was so disguised and remains undiscovered; has anyone speculated or looked? Story upon story?

]]> http://davidlansing.com/bangkoks-golden-buddha/comment-page-1/#comment-10808 David Tue, 27 Aug 2013 22:34:31 +0000 http://davidlansing.com/?p=8323#comment-10808 Okay, Fred, you got me. It just seems to me that a 13-foot-high statue made out of solid gold is going to weigh more than one made of stucco. And the photo is a little deceiving--the statue is bigger than it looks. Okay, Fred, you got me. It just seems to me that a 13-foot-high statue made out of solid gold is going to weigh more than one made of stucco. And the photo is a little deceiving–the statue is bigger than it looks.

]]> http://davidlansing.com/bangkoks-golden-buddha/comment-page-1/#comment-10807 Fred Harwood Tue, 27 Aug 2013 21:13:41 +0000 http://davidlansing.com/?p=8323#comment-10807 A plaster cube 5 feet on a side would weigh almost 9 tons. The photo seems to show a Buddha shorter than 13 feet. Was the whole of the Buddha and the pedestal encased in plaster? If so, the plaster weight would be relatively large. A plaster cube 5 feet on a side would weigh almost 9 tons. The photo seems to show a Buddha shorter than 13 feet. Was the whole of the Buddha and the pedestal encased in plaster? If so, the plaster weight would be relatively large.

]]>