I’ve posted these pictures earlier but it never occurred to me to tell you how I did it. Silly me! When I built Olaf I wanted to see if I could build it with stuff I hade laying around the house so maybe you’ll find my choice of material a bit odd.
1. I started with the head since it’s easier to add to the body than to the face which often is very detailed. First I built the face in a type of clay that doesn’t dry and is reusable. This was the most time consuming part. When I was happy with how it looked I covered it in petroleum gel so the papier-mâché wouldn’t stick. I always use wall paper glue (if that’s what it’s called) because I think it’s easier to work with. I mix that with water, about 50/50. I used copying paper because it’s white and it dries faster than newspaper. I added somewhere between 5-10 layers. Better too many than too few. When it was dry I took a artists spatula and pried it off as carefully as possible. It will rip in the edges but that’s nothing to worry about. You can fix that later.
2. So now you have a face. Next step is the rest of the head, but first you need something to hold all the parts together. I used a paper tube and that worked out great. I took a balloon and I blew it up to about the size of an orange. Make sure that it’s the right size. If it’s too big it won’t fit inside the snowmans head, and if it’s too small the paper tube won’t fit. I covered almost all of it in papier-mâché. I left as much so the paper tube would fit. This part goes on the inside and it keeps the head from wobbling so it doesn’t matter if you use newspaper or copying paper. When it’s dry you glue it to the back of the snowmans chin, but first make sure that the head lines up with the paper tube the way you want it. You can see half of it in this picture. This is after I sawed the snowman in half.
3. Back of the head. For this I used a balloon and covered half of it in papier-mâché. To get the exact shape of Olaf’s head I used regular newspaper which I folded and masking tape. When I was happy with the shape I covered it all in papier-mâché and this time I used copying paper. The thing you have to be super careful with while making the back of the head it’s that it fits the face. When the back of the head is dry it’s time to put the whole head together and this is when you fix the rips from when you removed the face from the clay. To make it easier you can first use white masking tape so that the two parts stick together while it dries. Don’t forget the hole for the paper tube under the chin. Add some papier-mâché to make the edges smooth but make sure that the tube will still fit.
4. Olaf’s hair. You can use pretty much anything. I used pipe cleaners (again not sure about the name) so that I would be able to bend them to shape I wanted. I covered them in masking tape and papier-mâché and then I made three holes on the top of the head to fasten them in.
5. The upper body. This is a bit tricky because of the arms. For the arms I used a plastic pipe that I had lying around. I sawed it in half and bent the pieces so that they looked like a J. Like I did with the pipe cleaners I covered the plastic pipes in masking tape and papier-mâché. I covered the smaller piece after the bend the pipe with duct tape. For the upper body itself I made a doughnut. I started from the inside where I took a piece of an old film banner. It’s some kind of thick paper that almost feels like plastic. Not sure what it’s called. I cut it and taped it to almost look like a sleeve for a paper cup. Make it a little bit bigger than the paper tube so that it easily slide off. With the “sleeve” still on the paper tube I took masking tape and taped newspaper around it until I had a paper doughnut that looked proportioned to the head. Then I covered it in papier-mâché. Copying paper is used here. Make sure that the “sleeve” is inside the doughnut. Make two holes for the arms. Insert the part covered in duct tape into the holes. The duct tape works as a kind of lock. I made the hands last so I could see that they would look good compared to the rest of the body. I made the fingers the same way I made the hair and then I just fastened them to the pipe. I cut off a piece of the pipe to make it look more like a hand. It’s hard to explain but you can say that one side of the pipe almost looked like the mouthpiece of a recorder.
6. The lower body. I made the lower part of the body the same way as the upper part except I made it a little bit bigger and the hole didn’t go all the way through. I also made the bottom a bit rounded. It’s very important to remember to constantly make sure that the body is aligned with the paper tube. Don’t add papier-mâché while the pieces are on the tube if you want to be able to separate the parts as they do in the movie. Make all the pieces separately and don’t put them together until your 100% sure that it’s dry.
7. The feet. For the feet I used two styrofoam balls on which I sawed off a piece so they wouldn’t roll around. I covered the balls in papier-mâché to match the rest of the snowman.
8. The buttons. I made the buttons out of sculpey.
When all is dry comes the fun part. Painting! I painted the whole snowman white to make it more even in color.
That’s how I build a snowman. I hope I explained it so it was easy enough to understand. Please let me now if something isn’t clear. Nowadays my snowman is a mural. I just sawed it in half and glued it to a wall.
I’m planning on building the penguins of Madagascar next. It opens in Sweden 12/25, but first I’m off to London for a few days. I’m just hoping I will have enough time. Until then:
Happy building!
Angelica
Drawing my path 