The Acrylic Scorpion

This is one of my instructables that I am entering in to the Halloween contest. While not your typical Halloween decoration, it really depends on where you are located. Here in Arizona we keep a look out for them. Scorpions are one of those creepy crawly little things that you have to keep your eye our for. Just as soon as your aren't looking they crawl in your shoe and guess what happens when you put your shoe on.

The Acrylic Scorpion is a spin off idea of Kiteman's 4 am Glass Robot

It didn't take me but a couple of seconds to really decide I wanted to make a project like this. This is my first project that I actually made of someone else's instructable, or rather a very similar spin off idea. I actaully ended up making 2 and they were both fun to make. The second one took me about 40 minutes to make. The first one took about an hour.

I was going to use a clear stretchy plastic line that ran through the body and the beads like kitemans robot. But it was just to darn hard and the parts did not cooperate and stay in place. So unfortunately my scorpions tail does not snap like I had planned. Oh well though, I think it came out looking rather cool.

I hope you like what you see and a big thanks to Kiteman for the idea.

I worked harder on the video than I did the scorpion, I need a really nice and easy to use movie maker because mine just isn't doing the job. Sorry about the poor quality. Watch the video to the end though you may get a laugh out of it.

Oh one more thing my scorpion only has 6 legs where real scorpions have 8. It just didn't look right when I tried to add one more set, so a 6 legged scorpion is what you get. :)

Don't forget to click the + sign if you like it. Thank you

Materials and Tools List

I used the following Materials and Tools to create this project, I will also offer ideas for substitute materials and tools.

Tools
T1. (1) (Pink) Hot glue gun w/glue stick (super glue would work but you only get one shot with it)
T2. (1) Scroll Saw (a hack saw would work just fine on my material)
T3. (1) Small file (A finger nail file will suffice)
T4. (1) Pair Safety Glasses
T5. (1) Black Sharpie Pen

Materials
M1. (1/4 inch) Acrylic tubing
-- Used as body and appendage structure
-- (You could use: McDonald's straws, old Bic pens, other plastic or glass)

M2. (16) 8 mm faceted plastic beads
-- Used as appendage joints and head
--(You could use, glass beads, pea gravel, or even wadded up paper)

M3. (9) 6 x 19 mm spaghetti beads
-- Used as feet and stinger
-- (You could use the Bic pen cap tips)

Safety Briefing
This instructable involves the following hazards to be aware of:
Sharp edges, Moving saw blade, Hot glue and surfaces, Flying Debris
The hazards could vary depending on what materials and tools that you use, I always wear safety glasses with any project that has flying debris or chemicals.

Body Dimensions

All tubing cuts are straight except for the 2 inner most pincher arms. They have a 45 degree cut on one end this enable me to be able to come off of the body at 45 degree angle.

The 2 main body tubes are 4 inches long.

The 12 leg appendage parts are 1 inch long.

The 4 tail parts are 1 and 1/8 of an inch long.

The 4 pincher's are 1 and 1/8th inch long.

I started by cutting the 2 pieces that make the main body.

I then measured and marked off every inch using a sharpie pen. This is for the placement of the legs later.

Next I cut the all of the leg tubing in 1 inch increments.

Using my file I filed down any sharp or uneven edges.

I applied hot glue to 6 of the leg tubes and inserted the spaghetti beads into the tubes. This makes the feet.

Finally I glued 1 faceted bead to one end of a foot/leg tube, let it cool, and then glued the other leg piece at a 90 degree angle to the first. This gives me the leg shape that I am looking for. Basically a V shape.

Finish assembling all of the legs.

Now glue 1 faceted bead to each end of both main body tubes, let them cool.

Get one of your main body tubes and one completed leg. Leave the main body tube on your work area surface (no need to pick it up) and glue an assembled leg to one of the previously marked 1 inch interval. and let it cool. Repeat until all legs are attached to both of the main body tubes, your main body tubes should be in separate pieces but with the legs attached.

Now comes the tricky part connecting the two main body structures. Once again get your Sharpie pen and lay it down in front of you. I used the Pen to rest the main body parts on, this gave me the right hight for the legs to hold the body up.

While the body is sitting on the Sharpie (or use a pencil to sit it on) apply hot clue to the both of the front and the back faceted beads on the end of the main body structures. But make sure the body is lower than the leg joints.

Now you have your body structure.

In this step we will make the tail.

We will now make the pinchers.

Making the pincher's is very similar to making the legs. The only difference is that to connect the pincher's to the body you need to cut the end of 2 pieces of the tubing at a 45 degree angle so you can angle off the main body structure correctly.

Here is the completed project.
I hoped you enjoyed this instructable.
If you choose to make one, or something similar, send me an email I would love to see it.

If you liked what you have seen please click the plus button and have a great day.

Thanks for looking

Mr. Rig it.