papier-mâché body parts

Hi, LMR!

Today we are going to produce some body parts for our robots using glue and paper. Yes, just glue and paper! This is a little introduction into papier-mâché technique.

So, first we'll need a mold, an object you are going to copy the shape from. It could be anything from plastic box to whatever shaped thing. It just have to be solid. In my case I have used an alabaster hemisphere mold.

Secondly, some paper cuts. They should not be too large, but not too small too. I'd suggest approx. 2x2cm pieces.You can use even news paper. I have used just white paper to be able to paint it afterwards. You may vary your layers material and, say, use white paper for outer layers and newspaper cuts in between.

And the last thing: glue. You can use liquid paper glu. In my case I used 1/1 wood glue/water mix.

So, we start from preparing surface of our mold: depending on surface you would aplly:

-nothing :)

-vaseline

-something else. 

The idea is just aid separate mold from our papier-mâché. In my case, as I used alabaster, I placed some plastic wrap on surface of my mold.

Next is to apply the first layer of paper. It should be soaked in water, so it become wet flexible and separate from mold easyly afterwards. Get your paper cuts arranged so they overlap each other a bit.

Here is my first layer done:

Then you just repeat layers, but soak your paper in glue. 4 layers would give you pretty good hardness. You always can increase the hardness by increasing layers count. It would be good idea to let it dry every 3-4 layers.

My stuff (4 layers) ready to dry:

It usually takes couple of hours to dry. You can use a hair dryer to speed up process.

And here we go, my hemisphere is ready:

Some cutting, paint, and you have got your body part ready! :D

See ready product in short video.