Sep 16, 2020
Who are they?
The endangered animal that I chose for this assignment is Pangolin. Pangolins are threatened by poaching (often used in Chinese traditional medicine) and heavy deforestation of their natural habitats. They are one of the most trafficked mammals in the world — up to 100,000 pangolins are estimated to be hunted and sold every year. They range from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered.
Pangolins are mammals that inhabit tropical forest, dry woodlands and the savannah. There are eight species still in existence found in India, China, south-east Asia and parts of Africa.
About the size of a small cat, they are completely covered with scales made of keratin, which are also found in human nails. These scales account for up to 20% of a Pangolin’s entire weight. The scales start off soft and harden as they the animals get older. When under attack, they curl up into a spiky ball and use these scales to defend themselves.
One fun fact about Pangolin is that they don’t have teeth and are unable to chew. Instead, they have long sticky tongues, which can be up to 16 inches longer than their entire body length when fully extended, and they use the tongues to catch the insects they feed on.
Why choose Pangolin?
Before I started, I found I had collected quite lots of milk boxes, which have this aluminum foil-like material from inside (image below). And I really love how nice it feels and its reflective surfaces. Then the image of pangolin came into my mind because their scales are also reflective which I think it would be perfect to use my material to mimic those effects.
Process
- I sketched out the basic shape of pangolin, and planed out the type of materials needed and process of construction.
Materials:
- cardboard for structure
- bubble wrap for body volume
- black plastic for skin
- milk boxes (reflective side) for scales
Tools:
- cutting board
- scissors
- utility knife
- transparent tape & double sided tape
- markers
2.1 Getting started
Measure the size and cut out each cardboard piece, mark the number and place them with orders.
2.2 Build a basic frame
Measure and cut the “spinal cord” cardboard pieces. Lock the pieces from image above with it.
2.3 Tighten the structure
Use bubble warp and tape to tighten each join so the structure could stay in place.
2.4 Build up the volume
Once the structure is completed, fill the gap between each slides with any leftover plastic sheets or bubble wraps, and tighten with tape. The reason to do this is to build up a volume so the skin (in next step) won’t collapse as we paste the “scales” later.
2.5 Add the skin
Cut the black plastic bag into a series of straps and wrap them around on the body. Stabilize each strap with tape.
3.1 Add the scales!
After the “body” part is done, I drew and cut each piece on the milk boxes (to represent the keratin scales of pangolin). They are pretty much all in half ellipse shapes but slightly varied in size. Then, use double sided tape to paste each piece on the skin.
3.2 Add some details
After pasting each pieces, I added the two hands and legs, which are just four cylinders made out of toilet paper rolls and my medicine bottles (covered then with black plastic sheets as well).
Finish!
