I want to make a large scale paper mache project (specifically the hill from Nightmare Before Christmas halfway coming out of the wall).anybody have any suggestions for the best method to successfully do this?
For a horse you will definitely need a framework, called an armature. You can make this out of wire, with thicker wire for the basic stick figure and thinner wire wrapped around it. Then take a lot of newspapers, tear them into strips about 1-2 cm wide (find the direction of the grain, newspaper is really easy to tear in one direction) and mix up some white flour with water until it's about the consistency of pancake batter. Dip the paper strips into the paste and apply them to the frame, following the contours of the armature. Smooth out any wrinkles and get rid of excess globs of paste with your fingers. Keep putting on strips, wrapping them in an overlapping arrangement, for several layers. You can let the work dry and then carry on with more layers if it doesn't seem quite done. Since the paste is so cheap to make you don't need to worry about throwing some out and mixing a fresh batch. Let the work air dry and then you can paint it and varnish it. This is by far the cheapest and easiest papier mache technique. There are also pre-shredded mixtures and some use pva glue thinned with water, which also works fine.
Large Paper Mache Projects
For a horse you will definitely need a framework, called an armature. You can make this out of wire, with thicker wire for the basic stick figure and thinner wire wrapped around it. Then take a lot of newspapers, tear them into strips about 1-2 cm wide (find the direction of the grain, newspaper is really easy to tear in one direction) and mix up some white flour with water until it's about the consistency of pancake batter. Dip the paper strips into the paste and apply them to the frame, following the contours of the armature. Smooth out any wrinkles and get rid of excess globs of paste with your fingers. Keep putting on strips, wrapping them in an overlapping arrangement, for several layers. You can let the work dry and then carry on with more layers if it doesn't seem quite done. Since the paste is so cheap to make you don't need to worry about throwing some out and mixing a fresh batch. Let the work air dry and then you can paint it and varnish it. This is by far the cheapest and easiest papier mache technique. There are also pre-shredded mixtures and some use pva glue thinned with water, which also works fine.
Large Paper Mache Projects
