How to create a superhero

like a fullbody batman and an idiana jones full body person about 3 to 4 feet tall

Answer from Piñata Boy

A full-body person piñata is an example of what I call a structural piñata.  A structural piñata is made up of separate parts that are all attached together with tape and papier-mâché before the piñata is decorated.  (Contrast this with a simple piñata, which is made using just one balloon.)

To make a full-body person piñata, imagine all the pieces of the piñata:  you’ll need a head, two arms, two legs, and a torso.  The arms and legs can each be made up of two parts, and the torso for a superhero piñata might be further made up of one wide piece for the chest and upper back, with a narrower piece for the stomach and lower back.  You might also want hands and feet, or you can simply round off the ends of the arms and legs.

How exactly you want to go about making these pieces depends on how realistic or cartoonish you want the piñata to be.  The arms and legs can be made from thin cardboard rolled into tubes, or they can be made using small balloons to make them “bumpier” and more muscular-looking.  Since superhero piñatas are popular right now, you can even go to a Wal-Mart or other store that sells piñatas and take a look to see what you like and don’t like about those ones.  The head would most likely be made using a balloon, and the chest/torso pieces could be made either by shaping thin cardboard or by wrapping a couple balloons together in newspaper to get the shape you want.  (I have to warn you, though, that when you wrap two balloons together and then apply papier-mâché, the shape of the piece will often deform under the weight of the wet papier-mâché strips, so this is not a method I would recommend for your first piñata.)

Once you’ve made each piece, you’ll want to tape them together using masking tape and then cement them together with papier-mâché.  On the Step-by-step Instructions page you can see three examples of how the pieces of a structural piñata are attached.  Don’t worry if the finished papier-mâché superhero doesn’t look very heroic, because the decorating is what is really going to sell the piñata as a superhero.

Good luck!

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