Final Character

Here is my final character. It is made out of a milk carton, butter tub, toilet roll tube, stress ball, plastic cup, yoghurt pot, straws, tangerine net, wood, and an old propeller. I covered the body with green tissue paper and wooden legs with shiny wrapping paper. For the spots and stomach, I cut out green wrappers such as an 'after eight' chocolate box and a cheese & onion crisp packet. Overall I am pleased with the outcome as it represents green dragon eco centre well and has a eco theory. The theory is the propeller on its back. This would generate electricity when wind turns it, just like a wind turbine. This is an example of renewable energy which will have a positive influence on the children.

Here are some images of the character incomplete. Here you can clearly see the milk carton, butter tub, plastic cup, toilet roll tube and propeller. At this stage, the design was top heavy so when rested it would fall forward. This was due to the heavy propeller on the front half of the dragon making it unbalanced. I only had to add the tail and legs to the rear half, both of which are light so knew the design would still be top heavy when finished. To solve this problem I crushed some old ceramic tiles and put them through the lid of the milk carton. These are heavy and so balanced it out when they had fallen to the bottom of the carton. I then added the tail, legs, head and wings to finish it off. However, as the design was now a lot heavier, it couldn't stand on its own because the legs were only glued on. I added a block of wood underneath it which acts like a stand. If the legs were drilled in then the design would be sturdy enough to stand up, however this would have damaged the milk carton. If I hadn't checked my design throughout making it then it would not have been as successful.

This picture is taken after the ceramics had been added and as you can see it now stands up without falling over.