I finished the model over the weekends, and based on what I did, I wrote a set of instructions to create it! (:
Materials: (materials can be substituted with other appropriate ones)
- 1kg paper clay
- Beige paint
- Green paint
- Brown paint
- Yakult straw
- 6 pencil caps
- A floor-ball (can be an old, broken one, as long as it still has its shape)
- Newspaper
- Small container of water
- Clear nail polish
Steps to make it:
1. Roll some newspaper over the floor ball to increase the diameter of the sphere. Add enough layers of newspapers until the entire sphere is around 8cm in diameter.
2. Flatten the clay to around 2cm in thickness. Then, tear out parts of the clay and paste them onto the sphere.
3. Make sure there are no gaps in clay, ie, the clay covers every part of the sphere. Also, smooth the clay to ensure that there are no cracks. Add some (around 2 drops) of water when the clay is too dry to help smooth it.
4. Using the remaining clay, create 2 cylinder models for the legs. Then, attach the legs any part of the sphere you deem fit. To attach the legs, scratch a few cross on the part of the sphere and the surface of the leg you want to attach together. Use some water and press the leg against the sphere. Using some clay, form a thin rope to tie around the leg. Then press this rope down, attaching the leg to the sphere, or the body.
5. Begin on the hands. Make paw-like shapes with 3 fingers in each paw, then stick in the pencil caps to each finger. Ensure that the pencil caps are firmly in place. Use some clay to make the tips of the nail more pointy. Then, using similar steps to attach the legs, attach the paws.
6. Poke the Yakult straw into the body, removing it after it creates a hole. Squirt some superglue into the hole and hold it in place.
7. Ensure that the whole model does not have cracks, and that the body parts are firmly in place.
8. Leave the clay to dry. The clay takes around 3h to dry.
9. Start painting the model. The whole of the model should be beige, except for the proboscis which is white and the nails, which are brown.
10. After paint has dried, cover the model in clear nail polish to give it the "moist" effect. A more effective way of doing this is pouring a suitable amount of nail polish onto the palette and using a medium-sized paintbrush to spread it. The layer of nail polish need not be thick.
11. Allow the nail polish to dry. Finally, spread a thick layer of green paint on the bottom of the feet to create the slime.
With that, it is done! :D
However, some difficulties faced:
- The clay at the tip of the nails chipped off easily
- The "slime" effect was hard to recreate
- When I left the clay to dry, the back of the clay was slightly flattened. Luckily this did not affect the overall spherical shape of the model :D
