Air Dry Clay Western Diamondback Rattlesnake {Image heavy}

[Lady Firefighter]

Okay, here goes my first completed craft post!
I know someone who is really afraid of snakes and I couldn't help but capitalize on that fact.  I used about 10 pounds of air dry clay from Hobby Lobby.  I had tried this once before with a different type of clay but had used a coat hanger as a spine and as the clay dried it shrunk and cracked because of the aperture so lesson learned the hard way.  This snake has no spine; I just had to make sure I braced the head with a soda bottle while it was drying.  As for the scales I initially tried using a bent paper clip but that wasn't going so well so I went down to a local bargain store and got a cheap dental pick and used pliers to bend it into the shape I needed.  That worked better but it still took forever and was frustrating.  I used acrylic paint and covered it in a coat of mod podge. I got cat eyes from hobby lobby which i put in early in the building process.  Anyway, here are some pics. I hope ya'll like it.

[tentbruiser]

It's great. You've done so much work! The detailing of the scales is perfect. I hope it doesn't freak your friend out.

[theatreorchid]

Gorgeous!  His face looks so real!  Are you going to spring it on the ophidiophobe (oh yeah, I googled it, haha) to freak them out?

[aisy]

its so realistic!will make a great halloween prop

[jennythor]

neat and detailed!

[Whysteria]

this is excellent. Love how you did the scales and just really awesome detail. air dry clay can be pretty hard to work with so great job!

[angelofthelastday]

Holy crap! The mouth is scary and I am not even afraid of snakes! Good job!

[sweets4ever]

Congrats!!

You're a Craftster Best of 2011 Winner!



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[littlewrenpottery]

Amazing work, looks very realistic! I'm a bit Indiana Jones when it comes to snakes : o