Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Landforms
Tear strips of newspaper into 2-by-6-inch pieces. These are the strips for the papier-mache. Create enough strips for an approximately 6-inch-wide Earth, so tear up the equivalent of about 15 sheets of newspaper.
Blow up a balloon so it is approximately 6 inches wide and spherical. If you inflate the balloon too large, it looks too pear-shaped. The shape is more important than the size, so if the balloon is more spherical at a diameter other than 6 inches, leave the balloon at that size. Tie to secure.
Mix 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water in a bucket for the papier-mache paste. Mix until it has a porridge-like consistency. Add more flour or water if necessary.
Saturate a strip of newspaper in the paste and lay it horizontally on the surface of the balloon. Cover the entire balloon with one layer of horizontal papier-mache strips. Allow it to dry for 24 hours on a piece of waxed paper. Add another layer of papier-mache strips, but this time, place them vertically. Allow it to dry for 24 hours.
Apply brown acrylic paint over the dried papier-mache sphere where Earth's landforms are using a medium-sized artist's paintbrush. Add green to the continents as well. Paint the rest of the Earth blue for the oceans. Allow it to dry completely.
Layers
Tear a large pile of newspaper strips for the papier-mache model of the Earth's layers. You need about the equivalent of 25 pages of newspaper.
Inflate a balloon so it is a spherical shape. Tie to secure. With a black permanent marker, draw the cutaway area of the Earth model to show its layers. Start from the top where you tied the balloon and draw a line down to the center. Add a horizontal line extending from the first line at a 90-degree angle. Repeat on the other side of the balloon so it looks like a wedge piece. Connect the lines to form the full wedge.
Mix 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water in a bucket for the papier-mache paste. Mix until it has a porridge-like consistency. Add more flour or water if necessary.
Saturate the newspaper strips and create one layer of horizontal strips over the balloon, leaving the wedge area uncovered. Allow it to dry for 24 hours. Add another layer of vertical papier-mache strips over all but the wedge area. After it dries for 24 hours, pop the balloon with a pin, leaving the shell behind.
Lay newspaper over the wedge area and secure it with masking tape. Secure the paper tightly so it showcases the angled cutaway. Dip more newspaper strips into papier-mache paste and create one horizontal layer over this area. Allow it to dry for 24 hours. Add a vertical layer of papier-mache and let it dry for another 24 hours.
Paint a yellow inner core in the center of the open area of the Earth with yellow acrylic paint, using a medium-sized artist's paintbrush. Paint orange around the inner core for the outer core. Add red for the mantle on the rest of the inside of the Earth.
Paint the continents brown and green for the Earth's crust. Add blue paint for the oceans. Allow the model to dry completely.