Holly asked me to give her a help with her primary school project on Egypt which has to be in for Friday and she had her Cubs night tonight.







We have made a start on her polystyrene pyramid and just need to think what to do to cover and paint it. Was thinking of getting her to paint the whole lot with a rich mix wood glue and cover with a fine dust, then paint.

The space in front is hoped to be occupied by a couple of polystyrene sphinx.

Any thoughts folks ?????

Nige

Had a go at making a sphinx and will see if Holly can copy it




Nige

Hey Nige, You have the parent thing down better than alot of people I know. I helped my daugther with a conestoga wagon for school once and a human skeleton in layers of the body parts, started with the outer skin covering and you pulled it over to the side and the rib cage was there, the next was the organs ect. Very fond memories we both have. For your pyramid, the question is what type in Eygpt. As far as I know there where 2 basic types. 1 is the step which , looks like yours now, steps. The other was like this also but was covered with an outer layer that made it look smooth. For the step you could use white glue and baby sand then paint. For the other smooth type, I would fill in the (steps ) and coat it with thick plaster but leave some exposed blocks for the errosion and paint. Hope it helps some.

I second Bob on this one, although I think the Sphinx came after the stepped pyramids, so would be better associated with the smooth type, but I'm not sure of that. What a great project to work on with your daughter.

Happy Modelling, -zon

Hello Nige,
I tink that the best solution it´s a layer of plaster , or best, Das pronto that can be scribed very easy.

hope that this helps
Carles

In my opinion yours is the more effective idea Nige

You could also apply on it a mixture between water, pva glue and pumice powder then you'll paint it in a sand tone

Cheers

Hey Nige, nice to see a project about my country's history!

Just a couple of things.. the stone ridges are not so prominent from a distance. At least not the famous ones you see in all the pics. It might be a good idea to cover it with some plaster and then scribe some stones in it. This looks more like the Aztek pyramids found in South America (There are a couple like that here in Egypt, but like I said.. not the ones Egypt is famous for).. Oh, and don't forget the top pointy part

If I can help in any way, please let me know.

So, have fun with it.. and I'll look forward to seeing pics of the finished project.

Hisham

Have you ever seen "Stargate"? I believe aliens build them. There are a couple of methods you could try. First, you can cut 90deg. wedges from styrofoam or florist's foam. Cut them to length of the side and glue in place. The second method still requires some of the wedges. Put two or three smaller wedges in place and glue styrene or poster board to them.

Hi folks

Some cracking ideas in there and I think for speed and availability, we are going to go down the tissue paper and wood glue route with sand sprinkle and acrylic paint.

As it is to be in by Friday, there might be a few short cuts to the look. It was great watching Holly trying to match up the sphinx with the photos and seeing her carve it out.

Back from work and school so Holly and I set about making her version of the sphinx using photos of a real one for her reference


Marking out her blocks for cutting


Big sister getting in on the act and wants to do something similar for herself. Will need to wait till weekend


Holly's is on the right and mine on the left




I think she has done a far better job of hers than I did



Tomorrow night is the covering and painting. And it has to be completed by then so I see Holly having a late night extension to get it completed.

Nige

I agree with you! Your daughter has definitely out-sculpted her ol' dad with the Sphinx.

Simple and fast would be to mix a sand-colored household (hardware store) acrylic paint with sand and paint that mixture directly onto the foam. It should act as a filler and color and texture all in one step. It might take a couple of coats to get an even texture, but drying time should be quick.

Alternatively, there's a hardware store product that's made to texture sheet rock ceilings that can be tinted to a sand color. It paints a bit better than the sand mixture, which will be the death of any brushes used.

There are also textured "rattle can" products, but they can eat the styrofoam right up (actually melt it rather than "eat" it, but you get the idea) if the foam isn't sealed with an acrylic or watered down PVA barrier coat first.

Good luck to your daughter. Hope she gets some really good marks for all her hard work!

Hi Mike ,,,,,,,,,, girl did good !!!!!!!!!!!!

Well we both got home from our work and got stuck into it again with what we had at hand.

Went for the tissue paper and wood glue mix to cover the polystyrene




Had to force dry it all with the hair dryer until dinner time and then got at it again with cheep acrylic paints from the Works. Holly had fun trying to judge the mix of colours to get a sandy colour






Needless to say the DROPS truck taking back seat to this project ,,,,,,,,,,, and the SWMBO happy to lose the dining table yet again to model building


Hisham ,,,,,,,,,,,,, although maybe not 100% authentic, Holly preferred the look of the stepped pyramid rather than the sloped one ,,,,,,,,,,,,, not sure if that is down to the fact that it would have needed a bit more work, or that she was keen to get on with painting it.










We found a box of sawdust that I have had for ages in the shed and we sprinkled that over the wet paint for a bit of basic texture.

When Holly gets her project home, I might try and source some 1/144 or 1/200 scale wargaming vehicles and figures to do a Raiders of the Lost Ark themed dio for her..

It has been a bit rushed,,,,,,,,,,,,, but you know what ??? It has been a nice wee break from the DROPS and another valuable joint build with Holly.

It has been great fun

I have also promised Jasmine that I will help her do something she wants to do. Jasmine is thinking about one of those Dog type statues in Egypt. So that might be what takes up some of my time.

Nige

Very nice!

I always enjoyed the school projects my children brought home. Now it's the grandkids!

G

that turned out looking excellent Nige. A school project to be proud of.