# Full Metal Chicken, bok bok



## mattthemuppet2 (Nov 14, 2021)

wife went nuts over some metal yard chickens we saw on a road trip, so I figured I'd make her one for Christmas. Can't be that hard, right?

The frame (skeleton?) was made from rebar and some scrap flat bar. The rebar ring was hand bent, the flat bar ring went through my roller.



Breast plate cut, bent, secured and painted. I got a bunch of 18ga galvanised sheet from the scrapyard, which is a bit of a bear to work with but Chicken will be somewhat bulletproof when he's done..



more cutting, bending, riveting and painting to come!


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## MrWhoopee (Nov 14, 2021)

I'll see your chickens (or maybe they're pterodactyls)




and raise you a cockatoo.




No idea who made them or how I ended up with them.


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## tcarrington (Nov 14, 2021)

Possibly winner of this year's best title for a post.
Anything can be hard, I have come to find out.


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## mattthemuppet2 (Nov 14, 2021)

"What is your major malfunction Private Chicken?"

that's some cool yard art right there Mr Whoopee! Next time I'll use some thinner steel, this stuff is beating me up big time. Two days in a row I've lost blood...

Leg pouldrons (?) currently have paint drying and will get riveted on tomorrow, then I can weld the feet (toes?) on.


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## Braeden P (Nov 15, 2021)

Thats a big co....


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## mattthemuppet2 (Nov 15, 2021)

Braeden P said:


> Thats a big co....


"I said, I said, son, it's not the size of your nose that matters but the size of your chicken!"

feet are done and painted, along with leg frills


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## Ultradog MN (Nov 15, 2021)

Not made by me but a couple of photos of yard art that I liked.


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## mattthemuppet2 (Nov 15, 2021)

those are really neat. I have the one on the left saved on my PC


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## mattthemuppet2 (Dec 18, 2021)

all right, time's a tickin' for the chickin'

couple more panels from thinner gauge galvanised sheet (yay!)



next up is the tail, which will literally tie its butt together


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## davidpbest (Dec 18, 2021)

Great post and great job.  I love animal sculptures.  Here's my rooster - his name is Elmer and he's on Tinder if you want to arrange a hook-up for your chicken.    




By day, he roosts atop the pergola in the back yard keeping the crows away.


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## mattthemuppet2 (Dec 18, 2021)

David, that is a really impressive rooster! I haven't named my chicken yet, but if he goes on the market he'll probably be going after the hens 

Bit of Cardboard Aided Design



he's turning out a bit bigger than expected


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## mattthemuppet2 (Dec 18, 2021)

Tail is cut out, just need to finish a bracket before painting it


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## mattthemuppet2 (Dec 20, 2021)

Captain Chicken, checking in


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## jpackard56 (Dec 20, 2021)

I'm enjoying Captain"s creation ! He's looking good !
Hope you get him ready without too many "blood lettings" that kinda work can get dicey !


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## brino (Dec 20, 2021)

Does he run around in circles until you put a head on him?  
-brino


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## mattthemuppet2 (Dec 21, 2021)

jpackard56 said:


> I'm enjoying Captain"s creation ! He's looking good !
> Hope you get him ready without too many "blood lettings" that kinda work can get dicey !



thanks! I've spilled so much blood making this thing it's a wonder I'm still alive. Everytime I wash my hands it brings tears to my eyes  Hopefully the wife will appreciate the sacrifice!


brino said:


> Does he run around in cicles until you put a head on him?
> -brino


thankfully not, my garage is chaotic enough without  3 1/2ft tall headless chickens running around    Hopefully get most of the neck done tomorrow, it's going to be interesting...

edit - crap, forgot about the wings!


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## mattthemuppet2 (Dec 22, 2021)

making progress. The other two neck rings have paint drying on them right now. The head is certainly going to be a challenge!



more blood spilled in the service of the Chicken God


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## Flyinfool (Dec 22, 2021)

Make sure you show the wife all of the blood lettings, that makes for extra points.
Just remember that one OH chit can still wipe out a million ataboys.


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## OlCatBob (Dec 22, 2021)

Matt; very impressive sculpture there. My wife and I just recently completed a turkey, and thought I would share. 
Bob


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## mattthemuppet2 (Dec 22, 2021)

neck is done


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## mattthemuppet2 (Dec 22, 2021)

That's really cool Bob - old motor bike petrol tank for the body?

Flyingfool, she sees then everytime I come in from the garage, though she still doesn't know what I'm making


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## OlCatBob (Dec 23, 2021)

All the pieces came from our local scrapyard. The body is an old Honda fuel tank; the neck is a cut off of new exhaust pipe; the head, is a bicycle seat, and will tip and turn; the wings were some kind of leaves from a metal planter; and the tail is a piece off a plastic inner fender that I sawed up with a 4-1/2” cut-off wheel. The “foot” is a 20” bicycle fork and added a cross piece for stability. My wife has added a “waddle” since the picture, of red fabric, and did all the painting.
Bob


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## mattthemuppet2 (Dec 24, 2021)

that's very cool, thanks for sharing.

Getting closer --- to Christmas! Argh!

Head started off as a cross between a Mayan face mask and something out of a Spartacus film



and after many rivets and cuts (of me and the metal), you get a faintly Chicken Run-esque head



the wattle is painted, as are the wings and all I have to make is the crest. Spent a bunch of time drawing out different options and I think I'll have it tomorrow


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## PHPaul (Dec 24, 2021)

Nice work so far!

I went with a little simpler approach.  All the curved bits are teeth/diggers from a spring-tooth harrow, wings are scraper knives from a disk harrow, head is some random bit off a farm implement, beak is sickle mower sections, comb is some roller chain.


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## mattthemuppet2 (Dec 24, 2021)

that's really cool Paul, looks fabulous. I love the plants growing up in the middle of it, might have to try that for a future project.

Just waiting for the paint to dry on the head to finish assembly


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## brino (Dec 24, 2021)

mattthemuppet2 said:


> Just waiting for the paint to dry on the head to finish assembly



Tick-tock, bok, bok!   
-brino


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## mattthemuppet2 (Dec 24, 2021)

alas poor Chickin, I knew him well


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## mattthemuppet2 (Dec 24, 2021)

kinda finished. Couldn't rivet the head on as I couldn't push it down into place without leaving fingerprints in the paint, so it's kinda jammed on there for now


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## mattthemuppet2 (Dec 24, 2021)

He's a little over 4ft tall from claw to crest. I was planning on something about 2 1/2ft


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## francist (Dec 24, 2021)

Now that, I say THAT, has got presence, son!

Awesome job, and a great thread to boot. 

-frank


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## LucknowKen (Dec 24, 2021)

francist said:


> Now that, I say THAT, has got presence, son!
> 
> Awesome job, and a great thread to boot.
> 
> -frank


Fully agree.


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## mattthemuppet2 (Dec 24, 2021)

thank you all. It's going in the flower bed in the front yard, hopefully it'll scare the squirrels and small children away


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## brino (Dec 24, 2021)

Wonderfully creative.
Well done!

Brian


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## mattthemuppet2 (Dec 25, 2021)

Thank you, it's been quite a journey! Same time next year, different project I hope


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## PHPaul (Dec 25, 2021)

GREAT job!  Love the colors!


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## mattthemuppet2 (Dec 25, 2021)

Thanks! They're mostly what I had in the garage plus the yellow that I bought. My girls helped me with the choices  

Merry Christmas everyone!


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## mattthemuppet2 (Feb 1, 2022)

Houston, Tranquility base here, the Chickin has landed





Pepper checking out the ground anchors (sawn off pieces of some massive lathe chuck soft jaws). I didn't want Captain Chickin either wandering off in someones car or taking out the neighbours car in a hurricane


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## Lo-Fi (Feb 1, 2022)

Wonderful. There's something very Wallace and Gromit about that there chicken!


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## Boswell (Feb 1, 2022)

awesome build


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## mattthemuppet2 (Feb 1, 2022)

thank you! The resemblence wasn't intended, but it turned out making a W&G-like chicken head was a lot easier than making a realistic looking one  The different size eyes was simply because I didn't have two large ball bearings the same size


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## brino (Feb 16, 2022)

Brilliant in design and colour!



Lo-Fi said:


> There's something very Wallace and Gromit about that there chicken!



....and also every time my eyes transition from the white to black neck feathers I'm thinking about piano keys!

Great build, thanks for posting!

Brian


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## mattthemuppet2 (Feb 17, 2022)

Thanks Brino! Our guard chickin head been doing a great job and head stayed put even in high winds  my dad reckons I shouldn't make some chicks for Easter...


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## mattthemuppet2 (Dec 14, 2022)

a year later it now has some Mexican Lanzana growing out of its head


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## Bone Head (Dec 14, 2022)

My wife's been looking over my shoulder as I read through this; she is mightily impressed!


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## Ulma Doctor (Dec 15, 2022)

Well done Matt, a masterpiece to behold!


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## Gnpenning (Dec 15, 2022)

Very nice .  

You have left a few things out, what was the wife's reaction to the blood letting chicken? 

What is in the que for this year?


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## mattthemuppet2 (Dec 15, 2022)

Thank you all, he is quite majestic 

My wife is used to me bleeding fairly often, so she didn't really react all that much. Part of the sacrifice I imagine 

On the list this year is a yard windmill, haven't started it yet though *gulp*


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