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HOUGHTON -- With temperatures in the teens and plenty of snow on the ground, conditions were perfect for Tech students working on their snow statues Monday night.

There will be 52 statues for this year's Winter Carnival, 30 of which have been under construction for the past month.

With their shovels, machetes, and hot irons in hand, members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity were out late, smoothing one ice sculpture with steps and checking the design of another which could be a car.

Just what are they building?  Only time will tell.

"Half the fun is having people try to guess what it is,” said statue chair Ramon Ramirez.  “We're doing our best; we'll have it done by Thursday morning and we hope to win to be honest."

Teams are required to put in 10 hours of construction time each week, but leaders of the Delta Zeta Sorority say they've put in up to 30.  They’ve nearly finished carving out their castle and are perfecting the points of their crown.

"I love being a part of being in charge of our statue,” said statue master Sarah Zimmerman.  “We spend a lot of time on the month-long statues, and Winter Carnival wouldn't be the same without them.  A lot of people come out to see them every year."

This year, participants missed out on a major weekend due to a mid-January thaw.  But the Army ROTC team says it'll all come together in the end and that's the best part.

"It’s pretty surprising to see what you put down on a piece of engineering paper come to life,” said officer in charge, Shane Sinda.  “It's kind of amazing what you can do with a couple of blocks of snow."

The students are having a great time already working on their sculptures, but the real fun starts Wednesday night.

While the month-long teams work on their finishing touches, another 22 one-night groups will just be getting started, and everyone will be here all night long.

Tune in to your TV6 newscasts Wednesday night for live coverage as well as a look at the final touches the following morning, and as always, right here on UpperMichigansSource.com