Ptolemy Elrington, 43, works full-time in his studio crafting shiny dolphins, dogs and dragons from all grades of hub cap - from BMW and Mercedes to Ford and Volvo.
He fixes the caps together using wire salvaged from scrap yards and cuts them with a craft knife and hacksaw.
Using free materials means the Brighton-based artist only charges customers for labour - at about �75 per day.
His most expensive creation was a dragon that used 200 hub caps, measured 10m long, and took over a month to build. It sold for �3,000.
Mr Elrington's other pieces, such as lizards, flies and toucans, are just as stunning but cost a few hundred pounds.
He said: 'I like to work with reclaimed materials to show that what is one person's junk is another man's treasure.
'When I finished college I stayed in Bradford and lived near a sharp bend where cars often lost their hubcaps.
'I started collecting them from a ditch at the side of the road and planned to turn them into a suit of armour.
'But I noticed they were quite marine-like and could be turned into fish or other sea creatures - the Ford Ka hub cap looks like a shark's mouth, for example.
'I gave the fish to family and friends as gifts but their friends then asked me to make animals for them and I realised there was a business in it.
'I'm now working full-time mainly doing commissions for councils and companies. I also did one for the environment agency.
'Recycling has become more mainstream these days and companies and councils like my style.'
Ptolemy has about 500 hub caps in stock and uses between ten and 200 caps per model.
He said: 'I never buy the hubcaps - I either find them at the roadside or am passed them by family and friends in the UK.
Even the wire I use to fix the hubcaps together is salvaged from scrap yards.
'Hub caps are made from different types of plastic. Some are brittle, others are more flexible and suit different needs.
'The caps from top brand cars like BMW and Mercedes are particularly good because they can be flexed more and do not snap.'
Mr Elrington has been crafting his hub cap creatures for seven years but his passion remains strong.
He said: 'I get a lot of enjoyment from making the models and still find the process exciting after all these years.
'The marine creatures really suit the hub cap colour and design, which gives them a lot of character.
'I'm a real stickler for detail and try to work as closely as possible to photographs or the creatures I have seen at the sealife centre.
'Fishermen are impressed with the likeness.'
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