Creating a value map is an important step in the painting process, to help ensure that your colors will look right.
How to Make a Mountain
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Whether you’re looking for a science fair project or are just a hobbyist, making a model mountain can be a terrific and enjoyable arts and crafts project. Luckily, making a model mountain out of papier-mache is pretty easy, even if you’ve never done this kind of project before! All you have to do is form your base, make the papier-mache and apply it to your base, and then paint the whole thing.
Steps
Part 1
Part 1 of 3:
Forming the Base
- For example, if the dimensions of your mountain will be 10 by 10 inches (25 by 25 cm), then your base should measure about 12 by 12 inches (30 by 30 cm).
- You can buy a wooden square to use a base at any art supplies store. If you’d rather use cardboard, just use any old piece of a cardboard box!
- You’ll probably need about 5-10 balls of paper, depending on how large you want your mountain to be.
- There’s no set size that your newspaper balls should be; you just need to make sure that they’re dense enough to be sturdy and to support the papier-mache and paint that you’ll put on them.
- You can also use aluminum foil to create these balls. Although these are sturdier, they’re also heavier than newspaper.
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- For example, if you want your mountain to be wide and flat, position your newspaper balls so that they create a wide, flat mountain surface. If you want your mountain to have a high peak, make a long, narrow ball and position it so that it points upwards.
- You can just use ordinary white craft glue for this project.
Allow the glue 24 hours to dry. This will give your newspaper balls enough time to become set in their positions. You may need to hold some of the newspaper balls in place for a little while (e.g., 30 minutes) if they were glued in an unstable position. [4] X Research source
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Part 2
Part 2 of 3:
Making and Applying the Papier-Mache
- Some people prefer to heat up this mixture over low heat in order to get a smoother consistency. However, this isn’t absolutely necessary.
Cut some newspaper into long strips about 1 by 3 in (2.5 by 7.6 cm) long. Use scissors or simply rip up some newspaper in order to make these strips. You can make them longer than 3 inches (7.6 cm) if you want, but keep in mind that they’ll become more likely to rip and less easy to control if you make them too long. [5] X Research source
- It’s important to remove the excess paste from your newspaper strips in order to cut down on the time it takes the papier-mache to dry.
- Don’t worry about making the strip look perfect when you go to put it on your mountain. You’ll have a chance to do that later.
- Be very gentle when handling your newspaper strip; you may accidentally rip it when you’re smoothing it out.
Repeat this process until you have a layer of strips on the mountain. Continue to lay more strips along the surface of your mountain until it’s completely covered. If the surface seems flimsy or looks thin, feel free to add a second layer.
- For example, avoid leaving it to dry in a bathroom or moldy garage.
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Part 3
Part 3 of 3:
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