Tokay Gecko Deadly Art


Tokay Gecko

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My name's Steve Backshall and this is Deadly Art.

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I'm lucky enough to travel the world tracking deadly animals.

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But in this show, my team of artists take my killer moment...

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..and turn it into art.

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We'll reveal another unique creation.

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Along the way, you'll get to pick up some tips, tricks and techniques

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so you can make some art yourself.

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This is no ordinary art show, this is Deadly Art.

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Coming up on Deadly Art, I take on a tough challenge

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to see if I can compete with today's deadly animal.

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I'm never going to make it!

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The artists recreate a killer piece of art using glass.

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With a simple bend, the glass breaks.

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And we'll show you how to draw another deadly doodle

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to impress your friends.

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What if I was to tell you that today's animal had superpowers

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just like Spiderman,

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with stick-on feet that enable it to climb any horizontal wall,

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excellent night vision and amazing agility and speed?

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This is the Tokay gecko.

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Its name comes from the very loud call it makes at night.

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"Tokay! Tokay!"

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Especially when it's out on a hunt.

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Many geckos are content to snack on things like moths and mosquitoes,

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but the Tokay is so large, it's capable of eating

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the largest of insects and even other lizards.

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Found in the jungles and cities of Asia, this is no ordinary gecko.

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But, then again, this is no ordinary art show. Time to meet our artists.

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So, who's taking on the Deadly Art challenge today?

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I'm Michelle and I love working with different materials.

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I'm all about getting stuck in.

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I'm Jo. I'm a painter, sculptor and a general mess-maker.

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Michelle and Jo will be representing the Deadly Art team,

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who are always up for a challenge.

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Here's today's killer moment to inspire the artwork -

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when a gecko catapults itself in a display of super-strength

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and stick-on stealth.

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For me, it's the feet. I love the way they stick to walls.

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The claws will work really well in stained glass.

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It's something we've not done before.

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It's going to be tricky, but really beautiful.

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Time for some more Deadly Art.

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This is a design for the stained-glass window.

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I need to divide it into sections to show where the glass will go.

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The head will be in five sections.

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We've got orange glass for the eyes and green for the body.

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Using glass is a first for our art team,

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so let's hope it comes together.

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One of the great things about travelling

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is that some animals aren't hard to find.

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The Tokay gecko is found all over Asia in forests and cities.

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It's their climbing ability

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that makes them worthy of

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a place on the Deadly 60.

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Let's get a closer look at the feet that are clamping down on my thumb.

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On the end of every one of those toes is a sharp claw,

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almost like the talon of a bird of prey,

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and that'll cling to tiny imperfections in bark or in bricks.

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But, even better than that,

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every one of those toes...is lined with something even more miraculous.

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Each toe is covered with fine hairs you can only see under a microscope.

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They allow it to cling to vertical surfaces or even overhanging ones.

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The Tokay gecko is, to my mind,

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the finest climbing insect killer in the world.

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That on its own ought to be enough to get on my list,

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but we don't just tell you how cool animals are, we like to show you.

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Our Tokay gecko is munching its way through the local moth population

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up there. So I'm going to go and join him.

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I'm going to climb that building later.

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Back to Michelle and Jo in the Deadly Art studio.

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Cutting glass is easier than you think.

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I've drawn a shape onto the glass

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and now, I'm using a scorer to go along the line.

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Although you can't really see the score mark...

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..with a simple bend, the glass breaks.

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I love how easily that glass snaps, but remember,

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Michelle has been trained and is wearing protective gear.

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-You mustn't try this at home.

-Fits perfectly.

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-Is that ready to go?

-Yeah.

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I'm going to take off the sharp edges using a polishing machine.

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When I've finished, they'll fit in the frame.

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It wouldn't be Deadly Art without using machinery.

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Now Jo's going to show you a Deadly doodle.

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This Deadly doodle is a colourful Tokay gecko.

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As always, we're going to start with the basic shapes.

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Our first one is an oval.

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And then, from the bottom of that,

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a large curve, which will be the bottom of the gecko's jaw.

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Coming out the top of that oval will be a big C shape for its body,

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all the way around to the tip of its tail and then back up again.

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And for its legs, I'm going to put in arrow shapes.

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And then, for its feet, they are just circles

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with little circles around them where his toes are going to go.

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On to the big round eyes. This one that's close to us is just a circle,

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but the one further away is more of an oval shape.

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And then, to add some detailing to its mouth.

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Its jaw comes down, and then another curve under like that,

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and then put in his tongue.

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OK, now I'm going to go over it with a marker pen. Let's get some eyelids.

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And those reptilian pupils.

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I'm going to put two lines coming down...

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to his nose and some tiny little nostrils.

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Around his head. I'm just going over the guidelines I already made.

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Now the back of his body, and he's got ridges going all the way along.

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Right up to the tail.

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And where those circles are for his toes,

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I'm going up and around, up and around, in a big wiggly line.

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And then over to those spiky claws.

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For his back leg, I'm just going to give him a little curve

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and another little wiggly line for a few toes and claws.

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-Let's give it some colour.

-This is the fun bit.

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Jo's using a wax crayon to draw the dots.

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All the markings are so individual, you can do whatever you want.

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Now, for his eyes, I'm going to go for the bright yellow.

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And then brush it all over with watered-down paint.

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There we have it. A lovely, spotty Tokay gecko.

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Great gecko, Jo!

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We visited Port Talbot in Wales on a Deadly day out.

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Here's how some of you got on with this doodle.

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Our first shape is an oval shape.

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Now for those legs.

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-ALL:

-Deadly Art!

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I enjoyed drawing the claws

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because that's my favourite part in animal bodies.

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I liked drawing the spikes because they're like the top of the castle.

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-ALL:

-We love geckos!

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You're all budding Deadly artists. Very impressed.

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Remember to keep on doodling.

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Let's get back to the studio and our stained-glass window.

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We're fixing the shapes into the frame using a method called leading.

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This is lead cane and it's used to join the glass together.

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First, I cut it to the right length... It is a really soft metal.

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..and bend it around the glass.

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That is the eye and it's ready to slot into place.

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When the glass and lead are in place, they're ready to be glued together.

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I'm using a soldering iron and lead - the soldering iron melts the lead

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and when it cools down, it's fused together.

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In Thailand, it was time for my

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Tokay gecko climbing challenge.

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Let's see how the best of British, me,

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compares to the wizard of the wall, the Tokay gecko.

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My first problem is balance.

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Something the gecko solves easily with its tail.

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And I can't get my fingers into the cracks

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between these bricks. They're just too small.

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Fingernails on the end of every toe for the gecko,

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perfect for hooking into imperfections in bricks.

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I'm never going to make it!

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That's one small victory, at least.

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Yay! Thank you very much.

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My next problem is sweat.

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I've got sweat getting into my fingers, stopping me gripping,

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and the gecko doesn't have to deal with that at all.

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This is the really hard bit. Up over the top.

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Geckos cling effortlessly

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to overhangs.

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For me, it's near impossible.

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Look at that! There's a little gecko

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climbing right alongside me.

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That's just showing off!

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Almost there.

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Woo-hoo!

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I did it in about four minutes,

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compared to the super gecko,

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who does it in around 30 seconds.

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Over to Michelle, who has a cool gecko DIY for you.

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I'm going to show you how to make your very own gecko fridge magnet.

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I've grabbed Jo's doodle, stuck it to the back of some cardboard

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and cut around it.

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This is going to make our fridge magnet sturdy.

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Next, separate the top half of the head from the bottom half.

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I'm going to use a scalpel. You can also use scissors.

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Very carefully, you're going to cut around the top half of the head.

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You must have adult supervision to do this.

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Just following those lines of the doodle all the way around.

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That should nice and simply pop out.

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I've got a small piece of card.

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I'm going to stick the remaining part of the body on to this card.

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I've got some glue here.

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Very carefully stick it down.

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Once that's stuck, we need to build up the rest of the gecko's mouth.

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As you can see,

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you've got the nice black bit and the red around the edges.

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Michelle is using a wax crayon to colour the inside of the mouth.

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There you have the inside of the gecko's mouth.

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All you do next is cut round the rest of this white cardboard.

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Now you've got rid of the excess cardboard,

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you're going to get a clothes peg

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and stick this to the back of the gecko's mouth.

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You can use craft glue, but it takes a little bit longer to dry.

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You're going to run a thin strip of glue along the top part of the peg,

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grab the top part of the gecko's face and stick it on the top.

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Give it a little press.

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This is really clever, because the gecko's mouth can open and close,

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so you can put different notes inside or reminders - it's wicked.

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We need it to stick to something,

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so we're going to get some magnetic strips,

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which you can get from any craft store, and stick these on the back.

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And there you have your very cool, very funky gecko fridge magnet.

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I'm going to put a little note inside that one. I love geckos!

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Back to our stained-glass window,

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and Jo and Michelle are racing to the finish,

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sealing the lead into place with solder and painting those dots.

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This was a really different way of representing a killer moment

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and that gecko looks like it's walking up the glass.

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The colours really show off the gecko's skin.

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-Let's hope it looks impressive with a light shining behind it.

-It will.

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So it's nearly time for the big reveal.

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I asked the team to recreate this killer moment and turn it into art.

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Let's take a look at the finished result.

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Oh, that is glorious!

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The spots really stand out

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and the feet just seem to be sticking to the glass.

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I love the way this window lives in the vertical world,

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the same way a gecko does.

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It's actually very beautiful, but let's not forget, deadly.

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Well done, team.

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What an incredible creation! Make sure you try the doodle and the DIY

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and we'll see you next time for more Deadly Art.

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Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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E-mail [email protected]

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