DIY Network

Metal Gal-Pals, Part 1 Build some burnished beauties for your home. From "B. Original" episode DBOR-124

Crafted life-sized for outdoors, or mini for inside, these metal lovelies are full of personality.

It's time to make some new friends—out of copper tubing and roof flashing. Michele Beschen shows how to turn these simple materials into a gaggle of glamorous gals who will liven up any décor. In this first part of the project, the B. Original host designs her metal gal-pals, cuts out their components and assembles the basic framework. In Part 2, she'll help them get their faces on and deck them out like true fashionistas complete with hats, shoes and purses.

Scroll down for the step-by-step instructions—the girls are on their way over!

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	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C
	Figure D

Metal Gal Pals

Materials:

rolls of roofing flashing, various colors
¼" and 3/8" copper tubing
short machine screws and nuts
tin snips
miscellaneous hardware
cardboard
markers
metal paint
drill
awl

Note: Michele Beschen's finished ladies stood 5' to 6' tall. You can make yours whatever size you like.

• Start by sketching the design for your gal pals. Michele Beschen used a book titled Cartooning: The Head and Figure for inspiration on body shapes, hats, shoes and faces.

• Once you have a design in mind, draw it out on cardboard and cut out templates of the head, body and shoes. You'll be using copper tubing for the limbs that connect them together.

• Place your templates on the flashing and cut out your pieces with tin snips (figure A). Michele Beschen used white, brown, aluminum, galvanized steel and copper flashing to get different skin and clothing colors.

  Safety Alert: Always wear work gloves when working with flashing—the edges can be very sharp.

• Once the pieces are cut out, start connecting them with machine screws, washers and nuts. When connecting copper tubing to the flashing, hammer the tubing flat at the connection point so that everything connects snugly. Predrill all holes for connections. When drilling, use an awl to poke a starter hole in the flashing and copper pipe to prevent the drill from slipping (figure B).

• Start by connecting the neck to the head. The neck piece needs to run ½ to ¾ of the way up the head, with one screw to attach it at nose level and one at chin level. This will provide additional support for the head, so that the neck won't buckle under the weight of the head and hat.

• While you're working on the head, use an awl to poke small holes where the ears should be and run a piece of wire from ear to ear on the back side of face panel for a hanger (figure C). Curl the ends of the wire, and it will look like your sculpture is wearing earrings.

• Now that you've got a good head on your shoulders, start connecting the other body parts in the same way, hammering the tubing flat at the connection point and starting the drill holes with an awl. Once your basic body is put together (figure D), it's time to move to Part 2 and give your gals some glamour!