http://imgur.com/a/yRrZ4
I started by sculpting a rough 1:24 maquette which was then used to get the basic 1:1 profile and cross-section silhouettes. This was also digitally scanned using the 123catch app so the support structure could be built in SketchUp and approved by the structural engineer. Ghetto, but it worked. The whale had to be delivered in 8 sections to fit through the aquarium doors and reassembled onsite with little to no mess.