Waste Paper Trotting Turtle Automaton

With great thanks to Arvind Gupta who inspired me with his lizard wire toy, shown on youtube, I build myself a walking turtle out of waste materials. I did make one bigger turtle before, and tried to make a smaller one in a less complex way for everybody to copy.

materials:

• wire 2,7 mm 25 cm long
• wire 1,3 mm, 2x 30 cm for body and 2 x 30 cm for legs, 1x 14 cm for head.
• block of wood approx.4,5 x 4,5 x 11 cm
• groceries carton
• 2 strips of paper 2x13 cm
• 4 HAMA ( melting) beads or other beads that fit snug on the 2,7 wire
• Print of attached PDF

tools:

• cutting and bending pliers
• drill 2 mm
• scissors
• may be a saw for the woodblock

Cut off two pieces of wire of approx 30 cm. Place it on the example PDF. Make one twist, Then place a thicker piece of wire between the end and twist the rest together. The video shows this action. The should be a eyelet between first twist and the rest. Bend the wire legs along the circle. You can use an jar or tin to make the curve. Twist the other side in the same way as the first side. If needed shorten the ends.

Bend the center waves in a thick piece of wire. Then twist two wires for legs around the crank. On the PDF small lines show where the legs should be placed. Place a bead on both end and stick both ends of the crank through the openings in the body wire. Then place two more beads and bend both outer ends as shown on the PDF.

The wires are placed in a wood block. The exact measurements are not very important. Drill two holes a few mm from each end with a 2 mm drill. Place the twisted ends of the wire structure in the holes. Make sure you can still turn the crank. Bend the neck part from a little piece of wire. place the middle ring on the crank end and attach the ends on the body ring.

Copy all body parts on the carton of groceries boxes.

• one body base
• 2 left legs topside colour
• 2 left legs underside colour
• 2 right legs topside colour
• 2 right legs underside colour
• one head
• shell parts, 1 center, 4 middle, 8 outer

all can be found on PDF

Fold two strips of paper lengthwise and glue them around the circle of the body wire. Make 3 cuts on each side so each side shows 4 tabs. Bend the body carton and glue (hot glue) it on the tabs. Place shellparts on the base, leaving small gaps.

Cut off excess lengths of the legs and bend the end in a U shape. glue leg parts on each other with the wire in between. Make sure all toes point to the tail side. Glue a small strip of carton in U shape on the neck wire. Make a zigzag fold in the head part to form the neck. Close the three flaps at the nose side. Glue the head on the neck strip.

Create a ring of carton strips around the wood block. Make sure the ring is double to make it sturdy. place a carton square on top with hot glue. Cut of the corners. Try to feel where the holes are that are covered by the carton and open them. Place the turtle back on the base.

If needed adjust the legs when turning the crank does not work without obstruction.

Show all your friends the result!