The cost of a statue commemorating an Angus pop culture icon has been defended as fundraising continues towards its installation.
Community group DD8 Music has been tirelessly promoting for a memorial to former AC/DC rocker and Kirriemuir emigrant Bon Scott.
This campaign culminated in a drive to raise £50,000 for a statue in the town, with a commission for well-known sculptor John McKenna.
However, local artist Alistair Jelks has proposed a “community-based effort” that would cost around half that figure.
Mr Jelks said: “I have contacted the Scottish Sculpture Workshop (in Aberdeenshire) for an up-to-date costing on a slightly larger-than-life, bronze Bon Scott.
“I originally proposed that I would have the fans deciding on the pose, then helping me to sculpt the clay model, then making the rubber moulds.
“The next step would be a ‘residential’ up at the Scottish Sculpture Workshop, where we would use the moulds to produce a wax copy, which would then be used to make the sand moulds ready for the bronze to be poured by the fans then to the metal workshop to weld the sections together.”
Mr Jelks originally suggested £25,000 but now believes £20,000 would be an acceptable figure.
DD8 Music organiser Graham Galloway said all the tenders received by the group were “in the range of £30,000-plus” but Mr McKenna was selected because of his track record.
The design, manufacturing, delivery and installation of the statue is to cost £38,000, with another £12,000 made up by fees for the web-based Kickstarter fundraising model, card processing fees and the production of rewards, which are tiered depending on the size of individual donations.
“We chose John because he perfectly understood our remit and also because he had a solid body of work and history of producing work on time and on budget,” he added.
“We did not want to pick the cheapest possible quote and end up with a lower-quality work of art.
“The damage done recently to the statue of Phil Lynott in Dublin, where it was knocked over and seriously damaged by two drunken men, is evidence of what can happen when corners are cut and cheap materials used.
“John has assured us Bon’s statue will be solid and good for 1,000 years.”
A statue of the Thin Lizzy frontman was knocked over and badly damaged in Dublin city centre this month.
The bronze sculpture was installed in 2005, almost 20 years after his death.
Shortly afterwards, a group of people in the area lifted the damaged sculpture and placed it back on its mount.
The bronze sculpture was unveiled by the singer’s mother Philomena Lynott.
Ronald Belford “Bon” Scott sang for the Australian hard rock band between 1974 and his death, aged 33, in 1980.
DD8 Music is a volunteer-run effort, which has promised any funds left over by successful statue fundraising would be donated to the Nordoff Robbins music therapy charity.