Birds beware

Mark Rayner's monster spaceman scarecrow is a fun project to share with children.

You will need: An old wooden drawer or wooden box, two CDs (or more if you like), garden twine, four 500mm empty paint tins, four small tin cans (we used small tuna and sweetcorn tins), a four litre empty paint tin (we used a Resene tin), exterior construction glue, small stainless steel or brass screws, screwdriver, hammer and drill or nail punch, paintbrushes (including an artists brush), two foam ‘Pool Noodles’ (these are sold in Mitre10 Mega), scissors and sandpaper. Resene Quick Dry, Resene Smooth Surface Sealer, Resene Lumbersider tinted to Resene Dizzy Lizzy and Resene Chaos, Resene Testpots of Resene Alabaster and Resene Black.

Step 1
Remove all can labels and sand the cans lightly. Then, to make arm ‘sockets’, attach two small tins to the wooden drawer sides, as shown, using the glue and a small screw through the base (make a pilot hole first with the drill or nail punch).

Step 2
Attach two other tins to the drawer base to make legs sockets. Cut pool noodles for arms and legs and attach them in the sockets with plenty of the glue. Stand the spaceman upside down and glue on a 4-litre tin for the head, as shown.

Step 3
When the glue is dry, paint the wooden drawer with one coat of Resene Quick Dry allowing it two hours to dry.

Step 4
Apply one coat of Resene Waterborne Smooth Surface Sealer to all the tin cans, including the paint tins. Allow this two hours drying time.

Step 5
Paint the body, the head and the ‘sockets’ of the spaceman with two coats of Resene Dizzy Lizzy, allowing two hours for each coat to dry.

Step 6
Apply two coats of Resene Chaos to the four smaller paint tins, allowing two hours for each coat to dry. When these are dry, glue them on to the end of the four pool noodle arms and legs to form the hands and feet.

Step 7
Using the artists brush, paint face details with Resene Alabaster and Resene Black, as shown.

Step 8
Paint a lightning bolt on the spaceman’s front, using Resene Chaos and Resene Black. When this is dry, hang a CD from each arm, using twine. Add extra CDs to help spook birds – or add tin cans that will rattle in the wind.

View more projects

Resene Paints (Australia) Limited – www.resene.com