This huge pipe cleaner spider (or some sort of tarantula) was constructed in a matter of 15 hours or so. The difficulty was very low, so as long as you are willing to put in the time, it should not be a difficult project to complete whether you are a kid or an adult. The legs each have a core of 4 pipe cleaners. They were constructed by alternating the coiling of 2 pipe cleaners from the tip toward the base for each segment (so 2 red, then 2 brown, then 2 red again). Room should be left at the end to allow for each leg to be attached to the body. The legs don’t have to be constructed in their final shape. They can be made straight and later bent to the desired angles.
The elongate “butt” of the spider is a hollow frame of pipe cleaners that were later colored in. The front two feelers or mini legs were created just like the primary legs, but shorter. You can also see two small appendages in the front that are just a single loop of pipe cleaner attached to the body.
The only difficult part was connecting all of the legs and other appendages to the tiny little body. The body was also framed out with little squares and the legs and other appendages were attached to it, trying to ensure that enough room is left for all the legs. After the legs were attached the body was then colored in and attached to the butt of the spider.
The legs are almost too long to support it’s weight, but they definitely can. Any bigger and the legs would have to be a lot thicker in order to make it strong enough to hold itself up.
Here are some other views of the tarantula to give it a send of scale and so you can it see it from a few different angles.
Pipe Cleaner Animals 