Gus van Hart, The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper

A quirky paddock full of handmade “Minions” is stopping traffic in Koondrook, with families pulling over at a local farm to snap photos from the fence line.

The display, built from recycled farm and industrial parts, has quickly become a fun roadside attraction for the district, drawing regular visitors and giving travellers a reason to slow down and take a look.

Farm owner and metal sculptor, Mick Shephard, said the project grew out of a long-running hobby that started years ago when he was working in Melbourne.

“I’ve always made metal sculptures,” Mr Shephard said.

Mr Shephard’s time as a maintenance man at an industrial site where car bonnets and similar parts were made in Melbourne, saw him bringing home offcuts to weld into sculptures after playing football for Macorna.

“I never sold anything, I just did it for a hobby. A lot of people have asked where you sell them, but I’ve said no, I was doing it for a hobby. I put a lot of time into them,” he said.

While working on a dairy farm, Mr Shephard said he used the shed as a place to unwind after demanding days.

“So I’d get up from the dairy, have some tea, then I’d get in the shed and I’d work until midnight. It’s sort of decompressing after a stressful day,” he said.

The Minions themselves came about after a stroke of luck involving a stack of yellow tanks that were headed for the tip.

“A guy that supplied the pumps for the water pumps, they had yellow tanks on them,” Mr Shephard said.

“He said, ‘Oh, Mick, I’ve got to get rid of all these, take them to the tip.’ I said, ‘No, you won’t. I’ll take them all.”

He initially thought about making fire pits, but changed tack.

“I started with one and then I ended up making 75 of them,” he said.

The first big audience came from the Swan Hill to Melbourne train line, which Mr Shephard said once ran through the middle of his dairy farm.

“I put all the Minions out in the paddock on my farm for the train to go past, and all the people would look out the window and look at all the Minions,” he said.

Now based at Koondrook, Mr Shephard estimated there were about 45 Minions on display, alongside goats, donkeys and other metal creations.

“There’s got to be 10 or 15 cars parked up here taking photos from the fence, nearly every day,” he said.

Mr Shephard credited his wife for encouraging him to share the hobby more publicly, including adding Christmas hats for a bit of festive spirit, with characters posed in different scenes.

Looking ahead, he said the display would keep growing.

“Definitely going to grow it. The Minions will still keep growing, but I’ve still got a passion for making other sculptures and stuff,” he said.

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 29 January 2026.