Hi!

This is quite a tall order for you if you have never made anything in papier mache before.

I would suggest you start by making a very basic armature out of some strong but pliable wire. (Fencing wire is ideal). Take the wire into all the extremites to form the shape of the cow, a skeleton almost to represent the backbone, neck, chest, legs, head and tail.

The next thing do is to fill in the skeleton. What you use is a matter of choice. You could use chicken wire which you can bend and scrunch into shape. Tie it onto the skeleton in various places with small pieces of thin wire. Or, you could fill in the bulk using carboard.

If you are using chicken wire, wrap some strips of masking tape around it to give something for the papier mache to adhere to. If using cardboard, it will help to stop disortion if you first seal it with a watered down white (pva) glue.

The opening mouth is a bit tricky, it will mean the head will need to be made in two sections, then perhaps loosely bolted together when both parts are finished so that the mouth can be opened and closed.

When building up the paper layers, start with the legs and let a few layers dry before putting any on the top. Papier mache is very heavy when wet and legs can so easily give way under the pressure. Build up your layers gradually over the whole body and to make it nice and strong (as it is going to be used in your productions) make sure you use 6 or 7 layers of papier mache.

For basic instructions on papier mache see "Getting Started" http://www.papiermache.co.uk/exec/cms-d … iew/id-23/

You will probably find it helpful to look at some pictures of cows to get your basic shape. Try to keep everything in proportion.

I wish you luck with it.

Jackie