A young British schoolboy is set to be a model star in Hollywood – as a fibreglass figure in the new Kick Ass 2 movie.
Artist Tristan Schoonrad used his nephew Kai, 11, to create his lifesize boy soldier with grenade and tin helmet.
The striking figure has also proved a hit with superstar actor Brad Pitt who requested his own personal copy after he worked on a film with Tristan.
Blur and Gorrilaz frontman Damon Albarn is another famous owner and now the model – which fetch up to £7,000 each – is to appear in the Kick Ass 2 sequel.
Tristan, 33, started working on film sets when he was 15 and his credits include special effects and prosthetics on movies including Rambo and Black Hawk Down.
He spent a painstaking two months making life-size moulds of Kai’s arms, legs, torso and head before carefully constructing the fibre-glass sculptures.
Tristan, of Borehamwood, Herts., said: “I have been doing mould making and special effects work since I was 15 because that is what my Dad has always done.
“I had begun to construct models similar to these for work but then about three years ago one of my friends said I should put it up in her art show so I did.
“My brother was kind enough to let me borrow Kai for these models and he was great.
“When I was taking a mould of the face he had to be so still and he kept the same facial expression the whole time.
“Kai was a bit indifferent about doing it at first. I think he would prefer to be out playing football or something.
“The art work itself has done really well but I don’t quite make enough to live on just yet.”
