My 3 year old is a big Toy story fan. He has recently begun running around and acting like buzz lightyear. I thought it would be fun to make a quick cardboard cutout in the shape of buzz's wings. I got a little carried away. Overall, the project still only required a little string(or wire) a cardboard box, and a lot of duct tape.
Step 1: Obtain cardboard for the pieces.
I took one box and cut 3 pieces to form the main body and wings.
I had intended just to do a simple cutout, but then I decided to do retractable wings.
Lay out the pieces and cut them into the following pattern. Make sure the wings are going to fit inside the folded piece.
I had intended just to do a simple cutout, but then I decided to do retractable wings.
Lay out the pieces and cut them into the following pattern. Make sure the wings are going to fit inside the folded piece.
Step 2: Reinforce areas with duct tape and add hinges
There are a few areas that will be weak points. Reinforce these with duct tape.
To make the hinges, put the wings in place (make sure they work first) and simply poke some scissors through. I made two holes in the main body and one in the wing. I threaded it through like the picture below.
To make the hinges, put the wings in place (make sure they work first) and simply poke some scissors through. I made two holes in the main body and one in the wing. I threaded it through like the picture below.
Step 3: Add stuff to make it look cooler
I didn't feel like spending much more time on it, so I just taped a piece of cardboard to it to build up some body. I covered the whole surface in duct tape and drew some stuff on it. You could go crazy and make it look super cool.
Step 4: Convince the child that this actually cool.
My 3 year old, who is a fan of buzz lightyear refused to wear it. My 18 month old is modeling it here.
--update october 2 2007. Same younger brother still playing with it months later.
--update october 2 2007. Same younger brother still playing with it months later.
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some thoughts:
I made mine flip out using a rubber band assembly underneath the wings. It worked surprisingly well for a while but eventually the cardboard and rubber band lost strength so I taped them up/down depending on the situation.
Walking through doors/crowds of people is a huge pain, so making sure you can put the wings down is a must.
The wings will bend and take quite a bit of abuse, so I cut and attached wire from some old coathangers to the wings using duct tape in a "batwing" type of design. this was probably one of the best augmentations for aesthetics, durability and functionality.
I put glowsticks on the wingtips and jetpack to achieve a better effect at night.
When it is all said and done, these wings weigh about 3 pounds. That doesn't sound like much but to a little kid it might get tiring. Also, your back cant breathe at all through the duct tape so you sweat profusely.
Use duct tape to color them, since paint will chip off the cardboard easily. You can find most colors at target for 3 bucks a roll.
Also I got a cheap laser from a pet store in the bargain bin for about 2 dollars. It was the perfect size to attach to my arm.
Cheers!