The Cardboard Man

Gentlemen, what I have constructed here
is the single greatest feat of cardboard
engineering ever attempted. I give you...

playing some chess
This is my web documentary about the construction of the Cardboard Man. Basically he is a scale model of ME made entirely out of cardboard and put together with hot glue. NO, I did not build him for a class or a project or something. I was not FORCED to build the cardboard man, I did it for FUN.

Here are some simple statistics about the cardboard man:

He has 16 points of articulation

15 - 20 lbs of cardboard

175+ hot glue sticks

1 piece of 100 grit sandpaper (for stubble)

1 brown paper bag (for hair)

The web documentary is broken down into sections chronologically. Follow the links and see HOW I built this man of cardboard and also hear the STORY of what was going on in my life while I was working on him.

CHAPTER 1 - The Beginning

In the beginning there was cardboard. And it was good. This chapter details the secret origins of the Cardboard Man and all the various projects that led up to his conception.

CHAPTER 2 - Spring Break 2001

My junior year of college I canceled all of my plans for Spring Break so that I could spend time with my girlfriend, Kate. Then a few days before it started we broke up. Needless to say, I had a lot of excess negative energy. I needed to focus that energy somewhere or I was going to freak out. So I decided that I would lock myself in my room from 8am to 10pm every day/night that week until the Cardboard Man was complete. Chapter 2 supplies photographs 1-12 of the infamous Spring Break build.

CHAPTER 3 - Head and Shoulders

After finishing up the head and neck I started working feverously on the arms of the cardborad man. Chapter 3 supplies photographs 13-25 of the Spring Break build and also finishes up the first full day of production.

CHAPTER 4 - Armed and Dangerous

If you can believe it, it took me a WHOLE day just to finish the arms and hands. There are a lot of complicated joints in there! It didn't help that the hands by themselves took me 5 hours. Chapter 4 supplies photographs 26-41 of the Spring Break build.

CHAPTER 5 - What a Waist

I can't exactly remember at this point, but I'm pretty sure I took a day off before this day. It was just TOO MUCH CARDBOARD. Even for me. Plus my wrist was really starting to hurt. I found out later that I got supinator syndrome from the repetitive motion of cutting cardboard with my Leatherman. Chapter 5 collects photographs 42-50 and finishes out the Spring Break build and the construction of the Cardboard Man.

CHAPTER 6 - Photo Gallery

This section of the Cardboard Man web documentary contains all the non-process photos of the CBM. As time passes, I will no doubt add more photos. The CBM is still alive and well and doing all sorts of wacky stuff...

CHAPTER 7 - The Drawings

These are not ALL of the drawings I did for the Cardboard Man, but they are the ones that I think are the best and/or most important. They show how I came up with the idea and how the drawings assisted me in constructing the Cardboard Man.

	CHAPTER 1 - The Beginning In the beginning there was cardboard. And it was good. This chapter details the secret origins of the Cardboard Man and all the various projects that led up to his conception.
	CHAPTER 2 - Spring Break 2001 My junior year of college I canceled all of my plans for Spring Break so that I could spend time with my girlfriend, Kate. Then a few days before it started we broke up. Needless to say, I had a lot of excess negative energy. I needed to focus that energy somewhere or I was going to freak out. So I decided that I would lock myself in my room from 8am to 10pm every day/night that week until the Cardboard Man was complete. Chapter 2 supplies photographs 1-12 of the infamous Spring Break build.
	CHAPTER 3 - Head and Shoulders After finishing up the head and neck I started working feverously on the arms of the cardborad man. Chapter 3 supplies photographs 13-25 of the Spring Break build and also finishes up the first full day of production.
	CHAPTER 4 - Armed and Dangerous If you can believe it, it took me a WHOLE day just to finish the arms and hands. There are a lot of complicated joints in there! It didn't help that the hands by themselves took me 5 hours. Chapter 4 supplies photographs 26-41 of the Spring Break build.
	CHAPTER 5 - What a Waist I can't exactly remember at this point, but I'm pretty sure I took a day off before this day. It was just TOO MUCH CARDBOARD. Even for me. Plus my wrist was really starting to hurt. I found out later that I got supinator syndrome from the repetitive motion of cutting cardboard with my Leatherman. Chapter 5 collects photographs 42-50 and finishes out the Spring Break build and the construction of the Cardboard Man.
	CHAPTER 6 - Photo Gallery This section of the Cardboard Man web documentary contains all the non-process photos of the CBM. As time passes, I will no doubt add more photos. The CBM is still alive and well and doing all sorts of wacky stuff...
	CHAPTER 7 - The Drawings These are not ALL of the drawings I did for the Cardboard Man, but they are the ones that I think are the best and/or most important. They show how I came up with the idea and how the drawings assisted me in constructing the Cardboard Man.