To put it all together, I got the completed wheel-cover-shield type thingy…

… and I threaded wire through the back of it. When I chose the materials to construct it with, I specifically chose a wire frame so that it could easily be attached to the rest of the bin.

Next, I drilled holes into the front of the bin at the exact locations of the wires threaded through the wheel-cover-shield type thingy.

I put the wires into the holes in the recycle bin and tied them tight. I then did a little airbrush touch-up (not as much as I would have liked), and sprayed sealant on the whole beast, and I was done! The finished product looked something like this:

*As a requirement for entry, we also had to design a mini-bin. The design could be separate, and since I was short on time, I chose to do something different from my big bin. I chose to recreate the Very Hungry Caterpillar, after he finished eating (he was fat, and those bins were shaped accordingly): .

Here he is, in all his mini-bin glory:

UP NEXT: IT PAID OFF

So, to finish this series- here’s the penultimate step: adding the turtles.

I started by using paper to trace the windows on the van, to give myself an idea about the spacing that I would be working with. Within those windows, I drew turtles in pencil.

The hardest part about doing this (and incidentally, probably the hardest part of this entire project) was drawing the turtles to scale doing the exact same pose from a different angle. Here’s the side view of Raph, for example:

Next came the worst part of this entire process: inking the pencils in. I had to use inks, as I discovered that pencil was too difficult to see using a light box. You can see how the active linework of the pencils gets flattened and dulled by the weightless inks:

Next, I used a lightbox to trace my drawing to sheets of freezer papers (I’ll explain why in a minute).

After tracing, I used an exacto knife to create stencils from the freezer paper.

I then used an iron to stick the freezer paper on the recycle bin: I laid the waxy side against the bin, and the heat melted it, making it stick.

I painted, then removed the stencil. It was a mess actually, as good amount of paint leaked under the stencil and needed to be touched up.

I stenciled two more colors in, then removed all of the masks and stencils for good.

Finally, I used my airbrush and arcylics to fill in the remaining colors and touch everything else up. The final product ended up looking something like this:

UP NEXT: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

After finally getting ahold of a Toter brand bin I finally began by priming the thing. The guy at Home Depot recommended adding a little grey to the primer to prepare for the colors. I’m not sure it helped at all- I still needed four layers of yellow to cover it.

I only bought a 64-gallon bin, as it was cheaper than the 96 gallon, and these things are not cheap. Especially when your original plan was to save money on a Coachella ticket. Needless to say, this has been such a fun experience that I don’t mind that it’s not just a free festival pass. I mean, the pass is free, but I have spent so much money on supplies, gas and spent so many hours working on this that it easily cost more than a regularly priced Coachella ticket. My advice for anyone trying to win a free ticket: do the Carpoolchella thing. Anyone looking for a fun time and an exciting challenge, enter this Global Inheritance thing.

Next up, I did a rough layer of the yellow.

I am trying to avoid redundant masking, so I am going to paint the base layers by themselves. Here you can see three colors thrown roughly where they will go. The specific borders between them will be masked in greater detail later.

Next, the masking began.

Because there were lines that needed to be created precisely on both sides of the vehicle, I can’t just draw directly on the bin. Instead, I used a technique that I have been using with T-shirts for a long time. I start by placing a sheet of Freezer Paper over the area that I want to stencil. Using a pencil, I “traced” over the invisible lines that I wanted to use.

Then, I add extra details and darken the outline that I want to keep. I use an exact-o knife to cut out the shape drawn in pencil.

Before cutting the shape out, I folded the paper in half. Opening the paper, I now had two mirror-imaged stencils. I cut them free (not pictured).

Next, the stencil was ironed to the recycle bin, using an iron set to very low setting.

The paining was finished…

Finally, I cleaned up and readied my airbrush, and used it to give some texture and dimension to the vehicle’s top. The effect came out so much nicer than I expected that I decided I will do more airbrushing.

The final thing that I have completed so far is the masking of the rest of the green. This process was longer than I thought (masking, that is). It is all of the details and and measurements that are robbing all of my time. I will post soon with my continued progress.

UP NEXT: PUTTING THE TURTLES ON THE VAN

While I don’t have the trash bin yet, I have begun doing prep work in other areas. The front of the turtle van, which is modeled off a 70′s VW van (I’ve always assumed), has a spare-tire looking thing on the front that is decorated like a turtle shell. I’m doing mine in paper maché, and I’ll add it to the bin later. To create the base, I grabbed a wire wreath from the craft store near my pad. I tightly wrapped it in Saran Wrap, and laid the wet strips over it. It’s taking three days to do it, because I want to make sure that it’s thick enough to withstand the Indio heat. Here area a few shots of the process.

First, my work space is set up. That’s the paste on the right. I used junk mail ads both as strips for the project and to protect my work space.

Here is the shield (for lack of a better word) from the back. You can see the strips being placed on the other side.

And here is the finished product from the front.

After that, I did some planning. I made a sketch and calculated the proportions of my logo based on the size of the official Turtles logo from the 90′s cartoon show (which is the version of the Turtle Van that I am re-creating).

Next, I used an enamel primer followed by a base coat, also enamel. I chose to use enamel simply because it was the cheapest for a large quantity. You can see that I drew the outline for my logo in already.

After that, I did something a little unusual. I switched to an acrylic paint to paint in the details of the shell. I would have preferred to do the entire thing in acrylic, so I switched to it as soon as it made economic sense. And the olive green will only be used for detail work, so now is the time for acrylic.

More masking was done. As you may notice in the pictures, the paper maché has a great texture to it that adds to the realism of the turtle shell. I haven’t finished yet, so I will leave you with that final picture as a teaser for what the finished product will look like. To be honest, the level of detail I put into the finishes will depend on how much time I have left once the work on the bin has begun.

UP NEXT: MAKING THE BIN GET PRETTY!

I haven’t used this thing since I was in high school, but I guess, as Nauruto would say, “it’s time to get serious”.

UP NEXT: THE WORK BEGINS

Since I can’t drive to L.A. to pick up the free recycle bin that Global Inheritance (the company that’s doing this whole contest) gives to all of their contestants, I called around to the local trash companies asking them for a donation. I was able to find on super nice guy who gave this thing. He said that he wanted it back if at all possible, and I told him that after the contest I had to leave either the trash bin or my soul and no offense sir but I’d rather keep my soul. He was cool with me having a soul.
After being super excited for several days, I find out from Global Inheritance that I can. Use my new blue acquisition because it is not the same brand that they use. Wtf. So now I have a recycle bin crowding up my living room and nothing to paint for the contest. Enter: my bummer face. Maybe I can use it for actual recylclables.

UP NEXT: MY SECRET WEAPON