When my eldest son was about eight, he became a bit (putting it mildly) obsessed with the Titanic. We spend almost a year (not kidding!) on the Titanic and literally everything related to the Titanic. He wanted to build the Titanic, in gigantic proportions! As this was obviously totally impractical, I came up with this Titanic recycle craft idea. (Note – the kids needed a lot of help with this project.)
What you need:
- boxes
- toilet rolls
- masking tape
- phone book paper
- glue and water mixture
- paints
- varnish
What to do:
First, we constructed the boxes by stacking two rectangles of the same size on top of each other, we added a smaller rectangle and four toilet rolls on top of the smaller rectangle. For the shape of the bow and stern, we used a cereal box cut into another long rectangle. Cereal boxes bend easily without losing shape. Using masking tape, we roughly taped the whole construction together.
Next, we covered the whole construction with small square pieces of paper from an old phone book, painting the construction with a mix of 50% wood glue and 50% water and sticking layers of paper(like paper maché). This made the construction quite strong and tidy. The more layers of paper and glue, the stronger the construction.
When the paper squares were completely dry, we painted the construction in a base coat of white acrylic. We added the basic colours (red, yellow and black) once the white was dry, using masking tape to get clean straight lines. For the finer details we used a stencil for all the small circles and squares. The name was done using a vinyl cutter.
The last step was a coat of clear varnish. Plascon paint Effects is my personal favourite as it is water-based and completely waterproof once dry.
Final touches were added- loads of Lego mini-figurines to enjoy the journey. Our recycled Titanic did well in water for a few minutes before it toppled(it might be a bit top-heavy with all the figurines, lol!). The construction was still solid though, thanks to all the layers of varnish!
Such a fun Titanic recycle craft to make with kids of all ages!
Nadia van Zyl says
The base was constructed by stacking the rectangular boxes on top of each other. To form the bow and stern, cut a box (a cereal box is perfect as it bends easily) into a long rectangle and bend around the base. Secure to the base with masking tape. Make a small hole in the base to insert the masts. Use masking tape to secure the toilet rolls to the base. The paper mache is done over the masking tape.
Hope this helps.
Bestever says
How did u make the base for stem and bow part? Also how did you stick the toilet rolls on the b box? Thankyou