Where I Brag About My Son’s Model Of The Bismarck…

My sixth grader recently had to create a homemade model of a battleship. 

He chose the Bismarck for his project. 

He considered all kinds of materials.  But when we found five-pound-buckets of Crayola’s Air-Dry Clay in the clearance isle of Walmart for $7.00 each, he was excited. 

Amazon, btw, has the same buckets of clay for $12.00.  (No one is compensating me for my post.  We just had a great experience with it!)

The clay is awesome, because it dries hard without the need for baking!  It’s easy to work with and you can easily soften it, smooth the surface, or join pieces together simply by adding a bit of water.

Here are the two ships my kids created.  The big one is the Bismarck.  The little one is a ship my younger son’s worked on together.  Both turned out really cool! 

The making of the Bismarck:

To start out, he molded a large chunk of clay into the ship’s hull.  Then he created a flat deck by pressing a cutting board against the top.  He made separate pieces for the “super structure” (I think that’s what you call it, Lol!) and joined them with a little water.

Using whatever he could find around the house, he added texture in places, creating “deck” and “windows” and such.

Finally, he added lengths of bamboo skewers to make stacks, and used toothpicks for the guns.  He wanted the turrets to move, so after he put posts in the bottom of them, he let them dry separately.  Later, he was able to set the turrets in the holes he made for them.  

When the ship was dry, he painted it and added a small flag.

I think it turned out great and I’m proud of all the work he put into it!

I’m linking to “Toot Your Horn Tuesday” for the very first time.  As Leah, the host, says, “To God goes the glory.  But on Tuesdays, we get to brag.”  And I’m bragging a little about my son.  :)