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Hi. I've just decided to do a Dinosaur theme to my little girl's 3rd birthday and wanted a dinosaur on the table to go with the theme. I've made a chicken wire 'outline' for it and it's about 3' long I guess. Do I just whack on the papier mache? I've read some of the other forum subjects and am I right to think I should do it in sections say starting with the middle to make sure it doesn't fall over and doing the head (lifted) and tail sections separately? Please let me know of any problems you think I'm going to have. Also do I use acrylic paint or can I use any type like children's paint? I'll be making the papier mache 'clay' listed on this website with wallpaper paste.
Any suggestions on how I should approach it. (It's a diplodocus type of dinosaur or Longneck & Littlefoot from Land Before Time for those with chilcren).
Thanks in advance.
Julia
Hi Julia,
What a good idea to make this theme for your daughter. All children seem to love dinos.
It sounds like you are well on the way to making a lovely model. You could just scrunch up a little extra chicken wire around the legs, just to give it a bit more stability. (Or you could use cardboard tubes). Also make sure the neck is strong enough by adding some stiff wire.
Before adding your paper strips, it is a good idea to wrap some masking tape around the chicken wire to give the papier mache something to adhere to. For your first layer of mache, use quite large sheets of pasted paper to get you started (this will help it stay on the frame). Leave to dry, then you can do the rest of it using thin strips.
As for painting, you can use any paint you like. I hope it goes well. I'm sure your daughter will love it! 
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Thanks Jackie. I've got masking tape so I'll start on that straight away. Also pleased that you suggested the sheets of papier mache - I was going to try the pulp. I'm also going to strengthen the neck as you pointed out - I'll use wire coat hangers as I think that 's the strongest stuff I've got in the house. Do you think that'll do the trick?
I'll let you know how it goes (probably a strip by strip question sessions as I come across problems....).
Thanks
Julia
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