Pirate Ship Wheel Prop

Materials:

*cardboard

*pen

*paper maché (newspaper, flour, water)

*acrylic paint (brown, black, gold)

*paper towel and toilet paper rolls

*hot glue gun.

Step 1: Trace, Cut, Tape Cardboard

*Using a dinner plate trace a circle onto a piece of cardboard.

*Make a 2 inch mark from the outer edge of the circle and draw a second circle.

*Trace a small item (such as a duct tape roll) to be the center of the wheel.

*Repeat one more time so you have a total of 2.

*Cut out along the lines so that you have 2 large rings and 2 small circles.

*Measure out 2 inches and cut a long strip of cardboard.

*Bend the joints of the cardboard strip so that it can easily be wrapped around the cardboard circles.

*Tape the strip to the edges of the circles.

*Repeat until the ring has an outer and inner rim and the small circle is completely closed, both pieces are now 3D and ready for the next step.

Step 2: Paper Maché

*Create a mixture of flour and water so it is about the consistency of thick cream.

*Tear up thin strips of newspaper to about 1cm width or smaller, or to your own preference. Since the majority of the area to be covered is curved smaller pieces are used to create a smooth final project. Larger pieces can be used for the sides of the circles.

*Dip strip into flour and water mixture and run between fingers to remove excess liquid.

*Smooth strip along cardboard and overlap pieces until all the cardboard is covered.

*Let dry.

*You may need to do this in several steps to allow one part to dry before applying paper maché to the other side.

Step 3: Cut Paper Towel Rolls

*Position the small paper machéd circle on the inside of the ring so that it is centered.

*Hold a paper towel roll over to get an estimate as to how long it needs to be.

*Make a mark with a pen.

*Keep in mind one side will need to be cut convex and the other side will need to be concave so it fits in the wheel.

*Cut the paper towel roll and repeat until you have a total of 6 cut pieces.

*Position them into the wheel, and re-cut any if necessary.

Step 4: Hot Glue in Place

*Hot glue the paper towel rolls in place doing one side first and waiting until dry before repeating on the other side.

Step 5: Line Up Toilet Paper Rolls

*Gather 6 toilet paper rolls.

*Line them up so they create a straight line with the inner rolls.

*Glue in place with a hot glue gun.

Step 6: Paper Maché

*Now that everything is all glued in place, follow the paper maché steps listed earlier to create a streamline result.

*Cover the ends of the toilet paper rolls with paper maché as well, once it's dried it will be strong enough for decorative purposes.

*If you need a more durable wheel you can add multiple layers of paper maché.

Step 7: Paint the Body Brown

*Paint the whole wheel brown except for the center circle.

Step 8: Paint the Center

*Paint the center circle gold, you may need to do a couple layers so that the newspaper isn't visible.

Step 9: Add Details

*Draw a straight line on the rolls to give it extra detail

*Also add some black shading along the edges

Step 10: Ta-da!

*Let it dry, and there you go!

*Step back and admire your handiwork