Here is my build out for the “Guardian of Forever”. It came out to 4’ wide by about 3’ tall. For the base I used a 21”x12”x1” piece of pine. I center the base of the “Guardian of Forever” on the base.
Material Used”
Material Used”
- 12” x 24” Pine for Bae
- 1” 4’ x 8’ piece installation/Foam (create the Guardian)
- 1” x 2” x 5” for support approximately 14 (count may very)
- Duct Tape
- Newspaper
- Wood Glue for paper Mache mix (Flour could be used in place)
- Spackle to give texture
- Paint – Sand color base/primer
- Paint – Air Brush for details
- I drew what I wanted the “Guardian of Forever” to look like on a regular 8x12 piece of paper trying to imagine size and dimension. I then took my 4x8 piece of foam/installation and drew the “Guardian of Forever” on it.
Step 2 (Cut Out)
Step 3 (Mount to Base)
- I then stacked the two pieces of installation/foam on top of each other and used tape to keep them together while I used a razor blade to cut them out. This kept both being the same shape and size.
Step 3 (Mount to Base)
- I created a 12” x 24” base using 1” thick pine. I cut several pieces of 1” x 2” support wood into 5” lengths and 2 10” for the base. These became the spacers to hold the two installation/foam pieces apart. I mounted the two 10” to the base so that the Guardian would have something to connect to on the base. I then glued each of the supports to the inside of the installation/foam and created the guardian by gluing the 5” support to keep shape. I then secured it to the base using glue and duct tape.
Step 4 (Filling in – Optional)
I closed all the gaps with tape. This could be done with any type of tape. I used Duct Tape as I wanted it to be stronger as I will be taking it to Conventions
I closed all the gaps with tape. This could be done with any type of tape. I used Duct Tape as I wanted it to be stronger as I will be taking it to Conventions
Step 5 (Paper Mache to cover it)
- Next was to cover the entire Guardian in paper Mache. You can use many mixtures of liquid for this from water and starch to paper Mache glue to many combinations in between. I ended up using a mix of water and wood glue (any glue could work).
- I used a premium wood glue so that when it dries it will be stronger and gives a little more support than standard Elmer’s glue, and usually only needs one layer in most spots.
- I used old newspaper I had for this, but you can also use brown paper if you can’t find newspapers anymore. The ratio of water to glue mix is subjective, depending on how thick or watery you want to start with.
- Here is a picture of after the paper dried with Cpt Tribble playing inside it.
Step 6 (texture)
- I added some spackle all over to give some texture. It is a little hard to see but if you zoom in you will see it. For painting I did one coat of primer, and then a base coat using s sandstone color.
- For the final painting I used an Airbrush to add other colors, lines, and textures. This is my first Airbrushing so it did not turn out perfect but will get better as I go on. I used a lot of different colors as you can see to try and add some depth and design.