CBM 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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.

CLICK ON THUMBNAILS FOR LARGER PICTURES IN A NEW WINDOW!

PHOTO 42-WaistJoint.jpeg

First of all--after finishing the Arms I freaked out and had to take a day off. I came back and was VERY confused as to how the hell I was going to attatch the Upper Body to the Lower Body. If I could do this over again (ARGH!) I would have probably built from the top to the bottom or vice versa. It was EXTREMELY difficult to bring together to two halves. Here's what I came up with. Hang with me if you can....

It starts with this giant cylander with two support strips running through the sides of it.

PHOTO 43-WaistJointAttatched.jpeg

Hmmmm. So this is the cylinder from Photo 42 put on top and around the mega-cylinder from way back on the First Day of the Spring Break build (see CHAPTER 2). The support strips block the new cylinder from dropping any lower and gave me something on the inside to glue onto.

I must admit, looking at this photo now I don't exactly understand what I was doing at this point but I know it was really complicated and I think I did the right thing. !?!

PHOTO 44-UpperBodyMeetsLowerBody.jpeg

So now the Upper Body can REST on the Lower body in the position that it will be when it is attatched. The height is correct, but I have still not connected the two sections of the CBM. I was getting pretty excited but also worried about the last few steps which I knew were going to be tricky....

PHOTO 45-OneSupport.jpeg

Here's what I came up with. I took a long piece of cardboard and folded it so there were FIVE faces. Then I folded and hot-glued it so that it made a rectangular support with one extra face making a diagonal in the middle for extra support. I then attatched the HELL out of it. This picture of one shows the heavy reinforcing I did on the supports.

PHOTO 46-FourSupports.jpeg

So here all four Supports have been attatched. This was the last time I was able to take a look at the inside of the Neck and Shoulder joints. Get ready for the last big step...

PHOTO 47-Finished.jpeg

It is hard to acurrately describe how difficult this step was. When you are working with Hot Glue in LARGE areas it is very tricky. Because as you spend more time spread more glue the FIRST glue that you spread is "drying" or "cooling" which means it is USELESS. So I think I let my hot glue gun sit for 1/2 an hour to REALLY heat up. Then I had to pour out ALL THIS GLUE and then QUICKLY and ACCURATELY place the large, cumbursome top half onto the lower half. Talk about stressful!!!

I burned my hands and fingers more inbetween Photo 46 and Photo 47 than I care to ever do so again. After getting the two pieces attached I spent almost an hour dripping, spreading, smearing and forcing hot glue into the VERY hard-to-reach guts of the CBM for reinforcement. But it was worth it. Because that was it. He was finished. What a great great feeling.

PHOTO 48-TheCBMSeated.jpeg

This was the first presentational shot of the Cardboard Man. It was the first time I really posed him. It was a trip. It's like setting up a really flexible manaquin or something. Here he is in a comfortable seating position.

PHOTO 49-Workspace.jpeg

Jesus. Here's my fucking disaster area of a room. The major tools are prominently displayed. The cord of my hot glue gun can be seen on the upper left. I kept it on the window sill so the fumes wouldn't set off the Dorm fire alarm system.

My green 30' Stanley Lever-lock tape measure was used for most of the major measurements although I used the big blue and red ruler quite a bit as well.

And of course the Leatherman. At this point I had started using my Leatherman Crunch because I had dulled the blade on my Leatherman Wave. Serrated blades work exceptionally well for cutting cardboard, let me tell you!

I went through a whole crap-load of boxes during the construction of the CBM. A lot of it I had been saving throughout the year--"I'll use this later. Mwaa haa haaa!" I also would go out at night and look behind dorms for cardboard boxes which I would steal and use.

PHOTO 50-TheCardboardMan&Creator.jpeg

Here's me with the CBM. Ahhh! My emotional state was less than great, that's all I can say. I wore the same shirt for four days and did not shower or shave for that time period as well. Please notice that the CBM has his arm around my shoulder. I might look all pissed off and angst-ridden but really I was brimming with pride.

Also during the CBM construction I was struck by the idea for this T-Shirt on which I wrote "Brand Name ©." I firmly believe that during this week my mind was in an elevated state of creative awareness. Nice lightsaber....

CBM 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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. CLICK ON THUMBNAILS FOR LARGER PICTURES IN A NEW WINDOW!
	PHOTO 42-WaistJoint.jpeg First of all--after finishing the Arms I freaked out and had to take a day off. I came back and was VERY confused as to how the hell I was going to attatch the Upper Body to the Lower Body. If I could do this over again (ARGH!) I would have probably built from the top to the bottom or vice versa. It was EXTREMELY difficult to bring together to two halves. Here's what I came up with. Hang with me if you can.... It starts with this giant cylander with two support strips running through the sides of it.
	PHOTO 43-WaistJointAttatched.jpeg Hmmmm. So this is the cylinder from Photo 42 put on top and around the mega-cylinder from way back on the First Day of the Spring Break build (see CHAPTER 2). The support strips block the new cylinder from dropping any lower and gave me something on the inside to glue onto. I must admit, looking at this photo now I don't exactly understand what I was doing at this point but I know it was really complicated and I think I did the right thing. !?!
	PHOTO 44-UpperBodyMeetsLowerBody.jpeg So now the Upper Body can REST on the Lower body in the position that it will be when it is attatched. The height is correct, but I have still not connected the two sections of the CBM. I was getting pretty excited but also worried about the last few steps which I knew were going to be tricky....
	PHOTO 45-OneSupport.jpeg Here's what I came up with. I took a long piece of cardboard and folded it so there were FIVE faces. Then I folded and hot-glued it so that it made a rectangular support with one extra face making a diagonal in the middle for extra support. I then attatched the HELL out of it. This picture of one shows the heavy reinforcing I did on the supports.
	PHOTO 46-FourSupports.jpeg So here all four Supports have been attatched. This was the last time I was able to take a look at the inside of the Neck and Shoulder joints. Get ready for the last big step...
	PHOTO 47-Finished.jpeg It is hard to acurrately describe how difficult this step was. When you are working with Hot Glue in LARGE areas it is very tricky. Because as you spend more time spread more glue the FIRST glue that you spread is "drying" or "cooling" which means it is USELESS. So I think I let my hot glue gun sit for 1/2 an hour to REALLY heat up. Then I had to pour out ALL THIS GLUE and then QUICKLY and ACCURATELY place the large, cumbursome top half onto the lower half. Talk about stressful!!! I burned my hands and fingers more inbetween Photo 46 and Photo 47 than I care to ever do so again. After getting the two pieces attached I spent almost an hour dripping, spreading, smearing and forcing hot glue into the VERY hard-to-reach guts of the CBM for reinforcement. But it was worth it. Because that was it. He was finished. What a great great feeling.
	PHOTO 48-TheCBMSeated.jpeg This was the first presentational shot of the Cardboard Man. It was the first time I really posed him. It was a trip. It's like setting up a really flexible manaquin or something. Here he is in a comfortable seating position.
	PHOTO 49-Workspace.jpeg Jesus. Here's my fucking disaster area of a room. The major tools are prominently displayed. The cord of my hot glue gun can be seen on the upper left. I kept it on the window sill so the fumes wouldn't set off the Dorm fire alarm system. My green 30' Stanley Lever-lock tape measure was used for most of the major measurements although I used the big blue and red ruler quite a bit as well. And of course the Leatherman. At this point I had started using my Leatherman Crunch because I had dulled the blade on my Leatherman Wave. Serrated blades work exceptionally well for cutting cardboard, let me tell you! I went through a whole crap-load of boxes during the construction of the CBM. A lot of it I had been saving throughout the year--"I'll use this later. Mwaa haa haaa!" I also would go out at night and look behind dorms for cardboard boxes which I would steal and use.
	PHOTO 50-TheCardboardMan&Creator.jpeg Here's me with the CBM. Ahhh! My emotional state was less than great, that's all I can say. I wore the same shirt for four days and did not shower or shave for that time period as well. Please notice that the CBM has his arm around my shoulder. I might look all pissed off and angst-ridden but really I was brimming with pride. Also during the CBM construction I was struck by the idea for this T-Shirt on which I wrote "Brand Name ©." I firmly believe that during this week my mind was in an elevated state of creative awareness. Nice lightsaber....