Programme Outline

Conrad buys chicken wire, garden cane and a pair of pliers from the ironmonger's shop. Back home, he draws his dog, Eccles, from different angles. He's going to make a model of his dog. He begins by making an armature (a framework to support the model). He bends the chicken wire into rough 3D shapes to show the main parts of the dog's body. He supports the wire shapes with garden canes.

Conrad cuts pieces of sackcloth and drapes them over the armature. He mixes plaster of Paris with water and soaks each piece of cloth in the mixture before returning it to the armature. Soon, all the chicken wire is covered. Conrad smoothes out rough patches by adding more plaster of Paris with a flat wooden spatula.

The plaster of Paris dries hard. Conrad paints his model with a pattern of patches, just like Eccles. When the model is dry, he can even load it on his skateboard and take it walkies!