Scorpion Deadly Art

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

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

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

..and turn it into art.

'And we'll reveal another unique creation.

'Along the way, you'll get tips,

'tricks and techniques so you can make some art.

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

'Coming up on Deadly Art -

'I get close to a venomous, pinching predator.'

Ow!

'With a pile of tyres and power tools at hand,

'my art team get to grips with an astounding piece of killer art.'

-A scorpion on a truly deadly scale.

-'And you can get creative, too.'

'So what are we looking at today?'

Despite being only about five centimetres long,

there are some species of today's deadly creature

that could kill someone my size stone dead.

It's the deadly, scary scorpion.

They've been around on earth for more than 420 million years.

They're found on nearly every continent on earth

and some of them are highly venomous.

This is an animal that certainly had a sting in the tail.

Let's meet today's artists ready and waiting in the Deadly Art studio.

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

I'm Nicola. I'm an ice sculptor, sand sculptor and power tool queen.

'Nicola and Jo will be representing the Deadly Art team

'who are always up for a challenge like this.

'And here's a killer moment from the deadly scorpion.'

We'll make a huge sculpture of a scorpion in the striking position.

Excellent. We'll use car tyres.

They're the perfect shape for the segments of his body.

And they're dark, rigid, robust, just like the scorpion.

Let's get some tyres.

'Time for some more Deadly Art.'

'The idea of using car tyres to create a scorpion is inspired.

-'Great idea!'

-This is really deadly,

so I'm going to take my time.

'Our artists are trained professionals.

'Don't attempt anything you see them do in the Big Art.

'There are more than 1,500 species of scorpion -

'160 of those in South Africa.' Got something.

'So I was bound to bump into one or two of them on my travels.' Ow!

This...is a Flat Rock Scorpion.

And, um...it's got quite a pinch on it.

But, um...it's actually really the pussycat of the scorpion world,

as far as the sting goes.

Um...the rule of thumb, really, is to look at a scorpion,

look at the size of its pincers, and if those are big, like this one,

you can see he's trying to get hold of me with those,

those will be its primary weapon.

The great thing about this Flat Rock Scorpion

is even though his sting really isn't very potent,

because he has these massive, powerful pincers,

he'll flatten himself inside a crevice,

and if other scorpions that have much more potent venom come nearby,

he can literally tear them apart.

So, although he's not very harmful to us,

he is quite potentially harmful to other scorpions.

'Join me later when I meet an even deadlier version.

'Back to the Deadly Art studio.'

Just like our scorpion, these tyres are really tough.

They even have metal in them.

'It's tough work, Nicola, but so worth it.'

We've made this wooden structure for the scorpion's body

which will then rise up into its tail.

And these just sit on top...

of the segments of his body.

'It still looks like a pile of car tyres to me,

'but, knowing the team, they'll pull it out of the bag as usual.

'Here's Nicola with a doodle for you.'

I'm going to show you how to do a Deadly Doodle of a scorpion.

Begin by drawing the shape of a mug handle.

This is going to form a guideline for the body

and give the tail that characteristic backwards curve.

He's split up into three sections.

His head, his body and his tail.

On the end of the tail, draw an upside-down tear shape.

That will give it the sting.

His pincers are two backwards C shapes,

and then join those to the head using some simple lines.

And the rest of his legs are going to overlap his body along here.

And he needs four of those.

And the ones at the back...

are three triangles.

And now we're ready to go in with our marker pen.

Redefine the line you've already done,

and to make those pincers look extra perilous, add on some spikes.

We want his front arms to look really strong.

So give some nice, bold shapes along this guide.

All of his legs, including his arm,

are going to join the body via a small circle.

And then double up on the lines, adding the joints as you go.

Do the same at the back.

At the front, add two triangles for the opening of his mouth.

And then follow this line around... to form the head.

He also needs two beady little eyes.

His body is made up of segments.

So again, using your guide,

add a few different sections...

..to give him that rigid structure.

Redefine that teardrop.

And the rest of his tail...

is just made up of simple leaf shapes

all the way down until you meet the body.

And there you have him, your deadly scorpion with a sting!

'Nice one, Nicola. We visited Crawley on a Deadly Day Out.

'Here's how you got on with your scorpions in the Deadly Art tent.'

CHEERING

His legs are really simple lines.

Show me. Let's have a look. Very nice!

This is my Deadly Doodle of a scorpion.

-I'm Charlie.

-I'm Emily.

-BOTH: And these are our scorpions.

-BOTH: Is this deadly enough for you?

-'Yes, they are.

'Great work. Keep doodling.

'Back to Jo and Nicola and their massive sculpture.'

I've made this wooden arc.

I'm attaching these smaller bits of tyre

to make the sections of the scorpion's tail.

I'm working on the scorpion's legs.

I've created the shape of them out of wood,

and to continue our tyre theme,

I'm covering them in inner tube.

'It's looking good, but still a long way to go.

'When I was in South Africa,

'looking for one of the world's deadliest scorpions was unnerving.'

This is...the scorpion I was really hoping to find around here.

I'm going to show you why I've been carrying this torch around.

If I get rid of my normal light...

Look at that.

This is one of the most curious things about scorpions,

is that their exoskeleton,

their skeleton on the outside of their body,

has this amazing glow when it's put under ultraviolet light.

The reason for this probably is that because all invertebrates

see really well in this kind of light,

that a scorpion hiding in a crevice can see another one

by seeing that ghostly green glow.

Now, you'll notice that I haven't got this one on my hand

like I did the other one.

Nor am I trying to get it to sting me.

For the very simple reason that if it did, um...

well, my trip would certainly be over.

This is probably one of the most venomous scorpions in Africa.

And if you look at the size of the pincers and the size of the tail,

you'll see it's exactly reversed from the scorpion I had earlier.

The tail's big and fat, the pincers small and thin.

This one here has a really nasty punch.

One of the most extraordinary things about this particular species

is that it doesn't stop there.

It can actually flick its venom at an attacker.

And it can be really, really accurate.

'Deadly, but such an extraordinary creature.

'Now, Jo's got a DIY for you.'

I'm going to show you how to make this deadly scorpion door hanger.

Starting off, I've drawn Nicola's Deadly Doodle

onto a bit of foam board

and the first thing I'm going to do is cut its body out.

'You must get an adult to do this bit. Scalpels are dangerous.'

Just pop that out. We won't be needing that.

And then you have the body.

I'm going to replace his legs with these black straws.

Firstly, I'm going to cut about halfway up at a diagonal

to make nice pointy legs.

I'll do that with eight of them, saving two for the front arms.

To attach these to the body,

I've made tiny little slits in the end here.

I'll push paper fasteners through that tiny little slit

and then through the body.

And another one on the other side.

Open up the other side and secure it in place.

There you have the first two legs.

We're going to go all the way along.

Now, for the pincer arms,

I'm going to take a binder clip and some gardening wire.

I'm going to tie them on.

'This is fiddly. Thread the wire through the large gap in the clip,

'then through the slit, and twist the ends of the wire together.'

Taking some more foam board, I've got an oval and a teardrop shape.

I'm just going to glue that on. Oval first.

Teardrop. And that's going to cover up the binder clip.

OK. That's ready to attach onto the body.

So there you've got your scorpion.

Now I'm going to make him look really nasty with some black spray paint.

'Wear protective gear if you're using spray paints

'and get an adult to help you.'

I'm going to take some red and highlight the top of his body.

Next, I'm going to pick out the segments of its body

just by cutting along like this.

'You could also paint the lines on when it's dry.'

And now for the last little bit of detail, his eyes.

OK, let's give him something to hold onto.

So there you have it - one deadly scorpion door hanger.

'I reckon that will look very cool on your bedroom door.

'Guaranteed to keep anyone out.'

That's the scorpion's head in place,

now for those exciting finishing touches.

We've got more tyres bringing us up to these pincers,

which I made in the same way as the legs.

A piece of wood covered in rubber tubing.

Now I'm just going to screw it on.

'Over to Jo, and that tail is massive.'

I've attached the tail and tied it to this grid for support.

But not forgetting the most important part.

That's the deadly sting. Oh, it's heavy!

'Looks like they've both finished.'

Phew! That was a tough one.

The position is perfect.

That backwards arc is very dramatic, like he's about to strike.

Using the tyres, they're in segments they're dark, they're tough.

It totally captures the essence of what a scorpion is.

And it's huge. A scorpion on a truly deadly scale.

I asked the Deadly Art team to recreate this killer moment.

So let's take a look at the finished work of art.

'A stunning sculpted scorpion, ready to strike.

'I had no idea how a pile of car tyres

'would turn into this incredible arachnid,

'but it certainly has.

'The tail, curved over its body,

'looks just ready to jab in its venomous spear.

'And the pincers, poised for that killer pinch.

'It's an industrial creepy-crawly that's emerged from a rubbish tip

'and is about to wreak havoc.

'Art doesn't get any deadlier than this.'

What an incredible creation!

Make sure you try the doodle and the DIY

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

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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