Praying soldier with boots and rifle is a free-standing beautiful lawn art piece. Makes an excellent memorial as well. The beautiful piece is cut from 1/8" thick steel and bent at the base. Three stakes go through the base to hold it to the ground. Height is roughly 23.5" tall and width is just over 28" with a flat base. The raw steel stake is coated with an oily film to prevent rust during transit. With time outdoors a raw steel sign will rust. While we use brand new steel and use rust preventative measures on the mild steel, your raw steel sign can develop slight surface rusting during shipment to your location. This is most likely during transits in high humidity and/or the package being delivered in the rain. Any light surface rust is easily removed by lightly sanding or scuffing with a green scrubbing pad before painting or display. We recommend lacquer based paint thinner, acetone, automotive brake cleaner or solvent based wax & grease remover to clean the oily film off of the sign before painting. Sanding with a 220 grit or finer sand paper or using a green scrubbing pad to scuff the surface of the metal will greatly enhance paint adhesion. Spray paint with primer is an easy coating for this type of sign. We do not recommend water-based paint on raw steel products as it can cause rust instead of preventing it. Always paint the back side first, so that the front will not be placed down after painting. Please be aware that the item may have sharp edges. Gardening gloves are recommended. This item is not intended as an indoor product. All of our items are 100% Made in United States of America and made to last!