The original version of this article stated that Peyton Manning's smirk is due to a cleft palate at birth. This is not the case, according to the Denver Broncos organization.

For more information on Tim King and his progress on the Manning sculpture

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Peyton Manning was sitting in the middle of Tim King's Longmont studio Tuesday afternoon.

Well, not Manning the record-setting Denver Broncos quarterback.

Rather, Manning the 300-pound sculpture.

The sculpture is a bust that has taken 200 pounds of clay and the last year and a half of King's life to complete, all so it can be covered in chocolate.

King, who has been a professional sculptor for the past 15 years, is working on the bust for Choctoberfest, an annual chocolate fair that will be taking place in September at the Omni Hotel in Broomfield. Last January, the organizers went to a Longmont printing shop asking for a 3D printed statue of Manning to be covered in chocolate and displayed at the fair. The shop recommend King, and now there is just 20 hours of work left before the Manning bust is taken to get a rubber model and a resin model made from the clay one. Come September, it will be turned into a chocolate Peyton Manning.

A, sadly, unedible chocolate Peyton Manning.

At his studio on Tuesday, King was staring at a close-up photo of Manning's neck scar from his past surgery, trying to figure out where to put in on the bust.

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"There is a lot research about the subject matter," King said of his process. "A lot of planning, size, scale, cost, time frame. Then it changes a lot."

King said he works with clay because it's flexible, allowing him to undo mistakes. He's done sculptures like this before, but nothing this large, or extensive. While he does spend 30 to 40 hours a week on sculptures, half of which are commissions, he still keeps a day job at IBM.

Longmont artist Tim King did a lot of studying of Peyton Manning to get all of the little details right, including the lifting of two fingers off the
Longmont artist Tim King did a lot of studying of Peyton Manning to get all of the little details right, including the lifting of two fingers off the football before Manning throws. (Lewis Geyer / Staff Photographer)

For the past few years he has taken to creating molds that are then cast in bronze, which he hopes to do with Manning eventually, if someone is willing to pay about $55,000.

"It would be limited edition of five or less, extremely limited edition," King said. "That way it stays in the fine art realm."

King said he sent the plans to Peyton's father Archie Manning, the Broncos and the PeyBack Foundation, Manning's organization to help disadvantaged youth, so King isn't concerned about legal issues. But he is making sure there's no NFL or Broncos insignias anywhere. King's Manning is helmet-less, in uniform, preparing to throw a football.

The insignias would be the only details the bust is missing. Everything else is as detailed as can be, even down to two middle fingers that are lifted off the football the bust is holding -- a move Manning himself makes as he prepares a throw.

"I am making sure it has motion, some kind of spiral to it so it makes a person want to look at the back," King said.

The bottom of the sculpture is made up of books and contains little hidden messages that only a true Peyton Manning fan would know like "1903," the address of Manning's high school.

"There's a lot of little hidden things, too," King said. "I would hope someone who is a huge fan would get it or solve the puzzle."

The bust isn't based on one pose, but an idea based on looking through 500-plus photos. Everything is researched extensively, even Manning's unique smirk.

"What structures, what muscles does he have that causes that extra offset there?" King asked aloud while getting a better look at the clay mouth. "There's all kinds of different things that if you don't do the research, you don't know why a person acts like they do or looks like they do."

King is clearly passionate about his sculpting, enough to ask himself questions like that, at least. It's those little details, like shining a flashlight over past work to smooth out little rough patches, that keeps King interested in projects, especially ones of this magnitude.

"It is just about staying connected with it so it's just as exciting in the middle when you're doing all the grunt work," he said.

Isa Jones: 303-684-5274, jonesi@timescall.com or twitter.com/theisajones