Does anyone have experience with using chicken wire for shaping outer sculpture?
Want it to be light and paintable. Heard of paper mache with some success, but getting that wet can make it sag.http://www.kineticbaltimore.com/KSR/For ... e=post&f=2#
How to seal paper mache to make water resistant?
Chicken wire will need to be covered with something if you want to paint it.
As for paper mache it will be fine provided you use water proof paint or cover it in water proof varnish.
If you want to be really light think about materials like nylon, or aluminiumized Mylar.
Chicken wire can be used and is good for applications where you want to "stuff" materials into the holes. But for kinetics, I'd recommend a tube-frame covered in painted fabric as a starting point. I like to work in steel, so I often use EMT conduit and weld the thing together. Others have successfully used PVC. Fabric can be stapled onto PVC, which is a godsend when you're running behind and need to get done pronto. Wood can also be used (the Wright Brothers did it) but it usually results in a fragile structure that is both time consuming and difficult to work with. I own a Wright Brothers 1902 glider. TRUST me on this.