It took metal sculptor Peter Worsley "many, many hundreds of hours" to create.
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Using steel, barbed wire and parts of a plough he created a wasp with a serious sting.
And after winning a staff competition to create art from waste the 350-400 kilogram bug is now nesting on top of a roof at the DPIE's Ian Armstrong building in Prince Street.
Mr Worsley said the work, called Barb though it has gained names including Waspy, was his largest creation in more than 20 years of metalwork and welding.
It measures four metres across the wingspan and is five metres long.
The Department of Regional NSW staffer said he had been building the wasp before the staff competition was announced.
Mr Worsley said he built each part of the wasp separately before they were assembled.
He said it first took pride of place at the front gate of his property at March.
"It's something I've been working for a while," he said.
"It was sitting at the front gate for a long time. It was a bit of local tourist attraction."
Mr Worsley said he had now had plans for an even bigger sculpture for that site, of a massive dragonfly.
VIDEO: HOW HE DOES IT
"It's in my head at the moment. It will be a barbed body and similar wings to [Barb]. It will be longer than that," he said.
Mr Worsley said he had been welding since he was young growing up on a farm.
He suffered spinal injuries when he broke his neck in a rugby scrum accident in 1987.
"It changed my direction," he said.
Mr Worsley said seeing a giant ant sculpture by noted artist Pro Hart in Broken Hill inspired him to take up art.
"I started making [art] 20 years ago doing little things."
Mr Worsley said people were now constantly seeking his work but he did not like to do commissions.
"I'm trying to build up a stash," he said.
Mr Worsley has exhibited his work in Orange and in NSW including as part of the current Here/Now exhibition at the Orange Regional Gallery which ends on Sunday February 28.
He has also created three large banksia sculptures which are placed in the Northern courtyard area of the DPIE building.
Caroline Myers, the DPIE executive director of Property, Fleet and Procurement said the wasp work would become a permanent fixture at the building.
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