Perler Bead Spider-Man Civil War

Hey Everyone. 

See what I did there? Yeah, it was a bad pun, but seriously everyone. This weekend, I created my own Spider-Man from Captain America: Civil War with Cap’s famous shield in hand. After two hours and made out of 2,259 Perler Beads and measuring at 12 X 24 this piece was thought up  almost two months ago. So, how do I go about creating this Weird Marvel Collectible?

1. The first step is setting up my grids. I currently have over twenty four and since this was an original, I didn’t know just how high I would go. My first was creating Spidey’s left hand since it would the basis of the main build. After that, I started outlining the main body. 

2. Next, I fill out the top of the shield and start creating the webbing on Spider-Man’s suit. This took a bit of work as I have to emphasise the Steve Ditko Spider Logo. I originally tried to go lighter with a dark gray, but I didn’t like how the web lines came out and switched back to black.

3. Next I started filling out the mask and then finished up Cap’s shield before working my way through the rest of the costume.

4. After completing the fill out I made some final adjustments to make sure the web lines and proportions are lined up correctly.

5. Next, is taping the beads down. This is a common technique that beaders use. This allows you to keep your beads locked in place and remove the beads from the grids so you don’t melt them with your iron. Some beaders will also poke holes in the tape the heat from ironing will escape better and won’t lead to uneven melting. I only use it when they are very LARGE projects, other wise I like the melting feature that comes without poking holes in the tape.

6. I then cover the beads with wax paper and then set my iron to steam, but don’t add water. This allows for an even heat over the beads as they melt together. I go slowly and press down lightly so the beads will melt together evenly. After about five minutes, I put a large heavy book over the beads like a cookbook, so as the beads cool it will cool flat. 

7. After letting it cool for about 12 minutes, i remove the book and then see if any of the beads are still loose. If they are, I quickly do another ironing for 2 minutes and then place the book back on to let it cool flat. After that, I carefully remove the tape and see the final product.

  After two hours, my Spider-Man Civil War is complete and I then add it to a frame and I’m reading to go. I love making these, especially comic and video game designs. These can sell depending on the size from $5 up to $250 and trust me. I’ve seen people buy them for that price, but with this, it’s mine, all mine! But I be happy to take orders to make anything from a Super Mario Power-Up to the Green Goblin riding in on his glider. Just ask JR.