The Colchester Airborne Soldier Statue was finally revealed at the junction of Circular Road North and Flagstaff Road last Friday.
The special event, which was originally planned for last year, was to mark 25 years of the 16 Air Assault Brigade in Colchester.
Sculptor and portrait artist Amy Goodman, of Hampshire, took on the big challenge.
She previously created the Pegasus statue outside the Merville Barracks, and the paratrooper in Aldershot in 2019.
Explaining how it all came about, said: “I’ve been doing this since I graduated from a Fine Art degree in 1997.
“In more recent years, since 2015, there’s been an increasingly a lot of commemoratives, starting with a World War One war horse and trooper in Romsey.
“Recently, I’ve had the honour of doing much more commemorative work, in 2019, I had a para unveiled in Aldershot, and the same chaps came and commissioned me this.
“They asked me to make another para, representing the last 25 years of 16 Air Assault Brigade in Colchester.
“Although it’s of a man, it represents all the men and women that put themselves into danger to protect us.
“They’re on the front line, and he’s assault ready, ready to throw himself out of a plane, to be deployed anywhere in the world, in a warzone.”
Amy worked with a serving soldier from two para who was “was a great model”.
There was one session to get the scale model right followed by two full days working on the life-size clay.
The artist then upscaled the clay from the scale model, and there was a lot of metalwork inside because “it has 400 kilos of clay” in it.
She then welded up separate cages for the trooper’s bergen and parachute so she could add them after she began sculpting the figure.
Amy added: “I don’t count the hours, it’s a long, long time. To sculpt a life-size soldier, you’re looking at a year.
“From the scale model to the clay to melting and casting bronze in the foundry, to then install and unveiling, it’s at least a year.
“Before that, a lot of fundraising had to be done, so the whole thing has probably been two and half years from the very beginning of the conversations to today.
“It was a really special occasion.”
Prior to the unveiling, Amy did get nervous.
“It’s always nerves beforehand, there’s that weight of expectation, you just want it to go smoothly, you want it to be well received, you want it to become a welcome landmark in the city,” she told the Gazette.
“When the unveiling cloth came off, I felt proud, honoured, and I shed a tear, it was lovely to get the positive reaction.
“I see this as team work, a lot of people worked really hard, and the airborne family and friends who funded this to.
“It’s a thanks to everyone and a huge honour for me.”
Next up, the artist will be unveiling a young statue of her Majesty the late Queen Elizabeth II in Romsey, Hampshire, commissioned by the town’s council.
She is also making a piece for the coastal force’s heritage trust in Portsmouth’s historic quarter; it is dedicated to the royal navy volunteer reserve in the first and second World War.
Amy spoke about why she loves her job. She said: “I’ve got things on the horizon, I’m grateful to be busy.
“It’s a challenge, no two pieces are the same, I love the range of subject matter, really working with the clients so it becomes a collaborative thing.
“I get to know my subjects, my clients, through the process it is rare you come up with the finished design straight away, it often evolves through teamwork and collaboration.”
To find out more about her work, visit amygoodman.co.uk.