Pepsi Bird

Its a bird, it's a pepsi can, actually it's both!

All you need is about 3-4 cans, scissors, box cutter or knife, marker, a flat ruler (for measuring and bending along lines), sandpaper, stapler, and a few hours.

Great project if you have some free time and want to get into some metal art.

Step 1: Get Your Stuff Ready

Get some soda/pop cans and use a knife to cut along the top and bottom of the can, the bigger the sheets the better. Then use scissors to cut any nicks, points, or bends so the side is straight and smooth. After this you can flatten the sheets by putting the sheet on the side of a sable and running it back and forth in the direction of the curl.

Next prepare some markers, a ruler and sandpaper.

Step 2: Make Layers

Now try to identify layers, and components of the item you want to make. For a bird i divided it into wings, tail, body, and head.

I started with the wings and made 2 layers, one for the feathers toward the back of the wing and one for the smaller feathers toward the center. I took one sheet, drew it out and then sanded features to get rid of color in some places (tips of the feathers). Then cut. bend, and staple them if they are big and flat. I did this for the body, tail and wings. I used about 8 staples total, but hid them under other layers.

Step 3: Small Components

For the head it isnt easy to bend and cut a layer and get the desired shape. I made the beak by folding a small scrap and with a little folding secured it into a longer strip which i wrapped around to get a rounded triangle shaped head. I slid it on the body and secured it by folding little corners into pockets and using small strips of scrap to secure it like that on the back of the neck.

Step 4: Base

In the end these projects are light so one of the can's bases (made of thicker and sturdier aluminium) can easily support the metal work. Make a hole or slit and fold some aluminum 4 times to get a sturdy support. just slide it in and tada, your done!

I do apologize for the lack of build photos, but I assure you it isn't to hard to get the gist of what to do. Play around with folding aluminium and you'll have a nice pass time to make art out of everyday stuff.