"Colonel Hathi " the Jungle Book Inspired

MATERIALS:

Wire hanger
Styrofoam
Tape
Flour
Vinegar
Glue
Salt
Water
Mixing bowl
Spar Varnish
Pro form all purpose joint compound
Toilet paper/ newspaper
Exterior paint gray/ dark gray
Ball ( small) or balloon



Paper mache mixture:
Flour
Water
Salt
Vinegar
Glue

( pour a bit of water, vinegar, salt , mix up , now add water slowly , mix it continously u til you achieve a pancake batter like consistency .)


Paper pulp:

Newspaper , cardboard soak them in hot water till they dissolve basically , use the drainer to collect the paper pulp , drain excess ( repeat this until you get about 12 cups )

Paper clay :

2 to 3 cups of paper ma he mixture , 1 cup of joint wall compound, 2 to 3 cups of paper pulp , mix till a soft dough forms , put in fridge for 24 hours , it's easier to work with when its cold and maintains its shape better

This step is pretty easy, find a base to to be the "bones" of this model, I found some styrofoam left over from a computer at my husbands work, now put the pieces together, legs and core, use crazy amounts of tape ....... Crazy. Now that you have a skeleton set , get a wire hanger split it in 4 pieces and put them inside the foam to make the form stronger, round of the legs , and any sharp edges. Start crumbling up old newspaper, old phone books, tape it down to create a back side to your elephant, don't worry too much about perfection this is basically when your filling up your elephant , start adding your layers of paper mache , some people use brushes, but I like the mess...... I did the strips into the mixture and lay em down on the form, now remember , every layer must be dry before you add a 2nd a 3 rd or a 4 th, at this point it probably still looks funky, and that's ok, now work your way around the elephants belly, sides and top, make it nice and full , let it dry completely.

Now I attached a small ball i had from my local dollar general onto the form, now this one is tricky I added more flour to my paper mache to make it super thick and sticky , I added the ball and tons of newspaper with mixture , I used my blow dryer to speed everything up, once it's dry. It'll be on there pretty good.

After you make sure the head has adhered to the form pretty good I did the ears, now this is tricky..... Indian elephants have smaller ears, clearly I never noticed until my 3 year old pointed it out to me ......So cut the ears to size, tape the cardboard down and start applying tour paper mache in to the ears and head , once they're in there pretty good, focus your attention to the trunk , here I used 1 wire hanger and attached it on to the small ball / head thing , start forming a long trunk , keep in mind how you wanna place it, start adding your paper mache 1 layer at a time, don't be afraid , keep messing with it until it looks like a a trunk , now use your 2nd wire hanger and lay it straight, lay it up against the back all the way down , tape it down and it'll hang down to form the tail, cut to size. And again add more paper mache strips , making sure to pay attention to the detail of the elephants back , the tail was wayyyyy long so I cut it down and again covered it in paper mache 24-36 hours later , check it on it make sure it's completely dried before adding more onto it. I then made a ladder so to speak on the trunk to create depth and detail , not its a good time to act the stick colonel Haithi carries with him to lead his brigade , I went outside got a broken stick from the ground , from one of our trees , add paper mache around it to secure it . Now the leaves I made of green extra felt from a past dinosaur project I made , I cut 2 leaves from there folded in half in made little cuts All around to create movement, adhere and now wait till it all dries , after it does cover it with a layer of paper clay just add 1 more cup of joint compound to
Your paper mache and 1 cup of paper pulp, cover it completely , pay extra attention to details you want to enhance , mild or create,

Now we have quite a scary looking elephant ( eyes) so. NOw we must work with our paper clay to turn it up and add lots of detail to his eyes , I added clumps of the clay to create an upset look to the colonel, start blending out at the edges and around the eyes, also don't forget to cover the tusks with the paper clay to let it sit and dry for 24 hours, now go around the elephants body and cover any hole or openings with paper clay , this will also create texture and that wrinkly look elephants have, they're skin is rough wrinkly, dry and have little bumps and such , make sure to cover the entire body and let it dry for 24 hours( mine was 16) but wait 24 to make sure, cover the eyes with joint wall compound do they can be extra smooth, after its all dry use your acrylic paint to paint the elephant in its entirety. Using white and black to accentuate the features, paint some eyes...... this part is tricky no matter how I put his eyes my son said it looked a bit upset lol so I decided to leave em as they are those were the best fit for him, now use your varnish ( well ventilated area) let it sit over night , now you have the beginning of your very own elephant brigade,
Looking back I woulda made the ears way smaller , but I don't want to teat them off and start again , besides I think they're kinda endearing ! Now enjoy he's ready for a bday party, Safari theme, jungle book, a child's room and don't check out my other jungle book pieces, more to come!! Thank you!