I love making fantasy animals in mini, so when I saw the Elements Contest on Instructables, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to make a project I've been wanting to do for a long time - a miniature phoenix.

In mythology, phoenixes are birds of fire - bursting into flames when they die, and arising again from the burnt out ashes. They symbolize hope, renewal, and rebirth.

This project has many steps, and includes many different mediums, such as wire, polymer clay, paint and feathers. However, if you take your time, and don't rush things, it is not too complicated, and the result is stunning.

My phoenix is in 1:12 scale, but the instructions can be easily adapted for any scale - even full size!

I hope you find this Instructable helpful and informative - I will try to answer any questions you put in the comments section as quickly as possible.

Supplies

Thin floral wire
Wired ribbon
White or off-white polymer clay, and black polymer clay (I used Sculpey, but any brand should work)
Red and black acrylic paint
Red turkey feathers (you can buy them on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/100pcs-Turkey-Feathers-Col... )
Gold pigment
Optional: Aluminum foil

Tools:

Pencil and graph paper
Scissors
Embossing clay tool
Exacto knife
Toaster oven
Tacky glue
Super glue
Optional: Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks

Step 1: Sketch

I always like to start projects with a sketch. It helps me make sure I sculpt my projects to scale. For reference, each square of the graph paper is a fourth of an inch.

Step 2: Wire Armature

To begin the armature, bend a four inch piece of wire in half, twist it around itself, then bend it so when you place it on your sketch the wire begins in the middle of the phoenix's head, goes through it's neck, body, and where it's tail feathers will be.

Then, take a second piece of wire, bend it in half, and twist where the second wire bends with the place on the first wire which is directly below the phoenix's wings. Bend the second wire so it follows the right-hand edge of the closer wing on your sketch, and cut it at the top of the wing. Bend the two halves of the second wire so they curve away from each other.

Optional: Crumple a small ball of aluminum foil around the wire where the phoenix's head will be, and another one for it's body. (This is a way to save polymer clay in the next steps and will not change the finished product.)

Step 3: Sculpting the Head

Take a small ball of white or off-white polymer clay and stick it on the end of the twisted wire where the head will go. (If you used aluminum foil in the last step, take a flat piece of polymer clay and smooth it around the aluminum where the head will be - make sure to cover the aluminum completely and make the clay a sphere.)

Using an embossing tool, press two small eye holes on either side of the head. Roll two similarly sized balls from black polymer clay and press them into the eye holes.

To make the eyelid, roll a long cylinder out of white or off-white clay, and cut two pieces off which are about twice as long as the diameter of the eye-hole. Place one of these above each eye, and, using an embossing tool, curve the cylinders so they resemble rainbows. Use the tool to smooth out the top half of each piece so it merges with the head (look at picture two for reference).

Use your fingers to form a cone out of clay and attach it to the head where the beak will be. Smooth the crack so the to pieces merge seamlessly and then bend the cone so it curves downwards. Flatten another piece of clay and cut it into a triangle with an exacto knife. Put this on the top of the beak, press it down so the tip of the triangle touches the tip of the beak, and smooth out the side of the triangle that is closer to the head.

Bake the head in a toaster oven at the temperature you are told on the packaging of your clay for 3-5 minutes.

Step 4: Sculpting the Body

Take a thumbnail-sized ball of polymer clay and press it onto the wires where the body of the phoenix will go and smooth any bumps or cracks in the clay. Repeat this step with a chopstick-sized cylinder of clay for the neck. (If you used aluminum foil when you were making the armature, take a flat piece of polymer clay and smooth it around the aluminum where the body will be - make sure to cover the aluminum completely and make the clay into a oblong sphere.)

Find some wired ribbon, and scrunch it so some of the wire is exposed. Cut off the wire, then it into three pieces which are about two inches long and bend a small hook into the end of each one. Press the ends of the wires into the place where the phoenix's tail will be and press a small ball of polymer clay around the wires to keep them in place. Smooth this into the body so it merges seamlessly.

Cut another piece of wire that is about an inch long and bend it in half. Press this piece into the place where the phoenix's legs will be. Press a small ball of clay where each leg meets the phoenix's body and smooth it out.

Bake the head in a toaster oven for 8-10 minutes at the temperature required.

Step 5: Sculpting the Wings and Painting the Body

Roll a large piece of white or off-white polymer clay flat and about 3 millimeters thick. Cut two identical wings from the clay using your sketch as reference. Press these into the wires where the wings will go and smooth the clay so there is no crack between the wing and the body.

Bake the phoenix for 5-6 minutes.

Then paint everything but the beak, legs, and eyes red using acrylic paint.

Step 6: Feathers - Body

Take the fluffy part of one of your red feathers and cut off a small clump. Paint some tacky glue on to your bird, near the tail, and press your clump of feathers on it. Continue doing this, starting near the tail and moving up to the neck, until the entire body of your phoenix is covered. Then, trim off any feathers that are sticking up at weird angles.

Step 7: Feathers - Wings

Cut off part of the non-fluffy section of your feather (refer to the first picture), then trim it so it has the shape of a willow leaf. Glue it to the bottom of the wing of your bird. Repeat this until the entire wing it covered.

Hunt through your bag of feathers until you find a very small, entirely fluffy feather (they are usually attached to the bottom of larger feathers). Cut off all of the fluff from one side, and glue the remaining feather to the wing of your phoenix (refer to the seventh picture). Do this again, but this time make sure that the non-fluffy side of the feather is right against the edge of your wing.

Repeat all of these steps on the other side of this wing, and both sides of your phoenix's other wing.

Step 8: Feathers - Tail

Make about five more non-fluffy feathers using the same process as you did when you were making the wings, and glue them together (refer to picture two). Using super glue or hot glue, glue the group of feathers where the tail should be.

Optional: Glue more fluffy feathers around the tail to hide any visible glue, or just to make your phoenix more fluffy!

Cut three non-fluffy feathers into a raindrop shape. Mix gold pigment and tacky glue to make a sort of paint, and paint this mixture onto your three raindrop feathers, starting in the middle, and slowly fading outwards. Super glue the three feathers to the three wires that come out of the bird's tail.

Step 9: Sculpting Feet and Finishing Touches

For the feet, roll out a very thin cylinder of white or off-white polymer clay. Use an exacto knife to cut four pieces from it that are about 3 millimeters long, and arrange them in the shape of a birds foot, with three pieces sticking out at angles in the front, and one sticking straight out behind. Gently press the pieces together where they touch. Use the same process to create a second foot, and bake them both in a toaster oven for 1-2 minutes.

Use super glue to attach the feet to your bird's legs.

Once the glue has dried, paint your phoenix's beak and legs black.

You can now add any finishing touches that you think would make your bird look better. I painted some gold pigment onto the tips of the wings, and used red alcohol markers to add variations in the color of the feathers, but you can do whatever you want to make your phoenix unique!