Introduction: Polystyrene Sculpture

About: My name is Hiyadudez. I make stuff. "The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure."

This is a simple polystyrene sculpture which can very easily be modified by changing the colour, shape, or size.

My sculpture is a simple one, purely because i didnt want to make the instructions too complicated. But if you are a great artist, you could possibly try creating sculptures of people, or other objects.

I hope you like this instructable, please rate, comment and subscribe! =)

Step 1: Materials

These are the things you will be needing in the process of making your sculpture.

Materials-
  • Polystyrene, (amount depending on what size you want to make the sculpture)
  • Glue, I recommend hot glue if you have any
  • (optional) A larger flat piece of polystyrene for the base

Tools-
  • A small hacksaw or coping saw (a large hand saw will not work)
  • Tape measure or very long ruler =)
  • A big pile of books or just something small and heavy
  • A towel or sheet to catch all of the little polystyrene bits

Got all the stuff? Great, then please proceed.

Step 2: Measuring

In this step we will measure the size you want it to be.
  1. Take the piece(s) of polystyrene and lay them flat and measure it
  2.  My piece measured exactly 53 inches, i round this down to 52 inches
  3.  I found that the thickness what 1.5 inches.
  4. So i decided that 52 divided by 12 is 4, and the thickness of it is 1.5 inches, so if i used all 13 blocks the height of my tower would be 19.5 inches. I decided to only use 10 blocks at  15 inches.
  5.  Lay out your tape measure again, and i put a mark every 4 inches because that was my measurment i worked out.
Use that to work out the height of yours.

Step 3: Cutting

I would suggest laying out your sheet or towel at this point as it can get very messy.
  1. Lay your polystyrene back out of the floor, your marks should look a little something like mine.
  2.  At each dot/line make sure that the saw is straight
  3.  Cut all the way through the polystyrene (the bit i just cut off was a little unneeded piece of it)
  4. Repeat this cutting all the way down on every dot.
  5.  After cutting it all up. You should have some nice, clean blocks of polystyrene.
  6. My 13 blocks, cut and ready.
Done? Move on!

Step 4: Glueing and Drying

In this step we will glue 'em up!
  1. I put my blocks into a bucket just for convenience of keeping my workspace tidy
  2.  Get some good glue. My glue i pictured really sucked and didnt stick well to the plasticy surface of the polystyrene (super glue or hot glue is highly recommended)
  3. Put some glue of the base of the model, not too much is needed
  4. Place the first block on and press firmly down so it has a nice contact between surfaces
  5. Put glue ontop of the first block, and stick on the second block, firmly pressing down on it once again.
  6. Keep on adding blocks until you think its fine or until you feel happy with its height. (remember to press firmly down with each block you put on)
  7.  After 10 blocks, i felt happy with its height.
  8. Now you need to leave it to dry (if you used hot glue this probably isnt nessasary) Put it somewhere where prying dogs and cats or little children wont get there hands on it while its drying. And place a fair amount of heavy books or a heavy small object ontop of the set of blocks. (like shown)

Leave this overnight for best possible results. Have a good nights sleep.

Step 5: Shaping

Had a nice sleep? I did! =) Here is where we will shape the block.
  1. My block, nice and firm after drying overnight
  2. Grab your saw and a pencil
  3. Draw some wacky shape onto your polystyrene with a pencil on one side
  4. Draw another line on the other side to create a double wacky shape.
  5. Begin to carve along your pencil line with your saw and go all the way to the end of the line
  6. Repeat this process of carving on the other line
  7. What you should now have!

For better results, get a small brush and paint the whole outside of the sculpture with PVA glue, to give it a shine and for more stability.


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