Awesome Cardboard

Artist Greg Olijnyk makes incredible sculptures and dioramas out of cardboard, glue, and toothpicks (with a little help from coffee and whiskey.) Among his creations is David vs. G 2.0, a retelling of the David vs. Goliath story with a tiny cardboard samurai taking down a gigantic robot. His robot assembly line is fantastic too.

Heavy-duty cardboard tubes are used to protect rolled goods in transit and provide forms for concrete construction projects. SBS Tube shows off the production process behind these large tubes, which involves gluing together numerous individual strips of brown paper around a metal roller.

If you’ve ever received a giant box from Amazon only to find a tiny item rattling around inside, you’ll appreciate this video. What you’re about to see is a Sparck Technologies automated packaging machine that first takes a precision scan of an object, then cuts and folds a custom box that fits perfectly, reducing waste.

NERF weapons are normally made from plastic with a few springs and maybe a motor. DanCreator made a working replica of a NERF Elite 2.0 blaster mostly out of cardboard. It has a slide-action mechanism that reloads darts into the chamber from a spring-loaded magazine.

The S has a thing for building matchstick-powered rocket engines. This time, their goal was to create two flame-shooting vehicles out of cardboard, then crash them head-on into each other to view the fiery wreckage. It took a few attempts to get them to launch at the same time, but the money shot was worth it.

We always figured if you were going to upgrade the plastic case on a handheld game system, you’d want to go for aluminum or maybe carbon fiber. But Peter Knetter is a bit of a contrarian, so he downgraded his GameBoy Advance SP by building it a case, buttons, and D-pad out of cardboard.

There are lots of tutorials how to recycle paper to create handmade paper. XYZAidan shows how the pulp extracted from cardboard can also be molded into sturdy 3D objects. The resulting pieces are reminiscent of egg crates or Starbucks drink trays. You can download his 3D printable mold designs on Thingiverse.

DanCreator continues to wow us with his awe-inspiring cardboard creations. This time out, he built a fully-functional miniature forklift out of the stuff, then used it to lift a bunch of tiny Amazon boxes on cardboard shipping pallets.

Normally, if you want a Mercedes-AMG G63, you’re looking at a six-figure price tag. Not so if you’re King of Crafts, who fabricated a drivable replica of the rugged G-Wagon out of cardboard. It rides on a homemade steel tube frame and can hit speeds up to 25 mph. It’s even amphibious… sorta.

When you place a marble at the bottom of a ramp it shouldn’t roll uphill, right? Well in this tricky video from Things Made of Cardboard, they made it look like it’s possible. See if you can figure out how they did it before the end of the video.

DanCreator built this substantial cardboard dump truck with a working drivetrain. He started with the chassis from an R/C sports car, then cut it down to size and retrofitted it with a new body that he cut out from cardboard sheets. He also added a motor and mechanism to open and close its dump box.

DanCreator builds all kinds of fun things out of cardboard. His latest creation is an oversize Polaroid 600 camera. After assembling the camera, he offers an imaginative look at how its instant photos are actually produced, with the help of a fellow artist.

There’s something so satisfying about watching marbles roll around in mazes. B-dama Friend’s YouTube channel is filled with dozens of fun marble machines made mostly out of cardboard. Each one is loaded with ramps, spirals, funnels, and more. Our current faves are number 37, number 24, and number 32.

We have fond childhood memories of playing one of those tabletop hockey games and trying to smash the puck into our friend’s goal. Maker Sean Yan Muk of SeansCrafts decided to build himself a version of the classic game using cardboard, curtain rods, popsicle sticks, springs, and toy soldiers.

After playing Mario Kart on his cardboard arcade machine, artist DanCreator wanted to ride in a real Mario Kart. So he got out his tools and got to building. To replicate the game’s anti-gravity zones, he attached two leaf blowers and some pool floats, so it glides like a hovercraft. We love how Dan recycles bits from other projects.

Nintendo Labo kits encourage players to build game accessories using cardboard. DanCreator took that idea to the next level by building a complete sit-down Mario Kart arcade machine to go with his Labo cardboard steering wheel. The total cost for the build was $150, not including the Nintendo Switch.

We always enjoy watching the spheres go round and round on marble runs. They’re usually made wood, metal, or plastic, but DanCreator made his marble run out of his favorite material, cardboard. We’re impressed with its complexity and the precision of its ramps and curves. It took him roughly two months to build, and the effort shows.

DanCreator / Cardboard Crafts built this full-size vending machine mostly out of cardboard. When a user inserts a coin, it dispenses a Cup Noodle instant ramen cup of their choice and then pours the right amount of hot water into the cup with the push of a button.

Smashing Helmets is a unique tabletop game that asks players to build their own cardboard helmets, then battle by tearing apart their opponents’ armor. The game includes templates for crafting helmets, along with either plastic or aluminum hardware, and a set of game cards. For 2 to 6 players. BYO cardboard boxes.

Dinosaur fans know that velociraptors actually looked like pre-historic turkeys. But the version most of us know comes from Jurassic Park. Epic Cardboard Props adds to his curious collection with an awesome sculpture of the fictitious dinosaur. Want your own cardboard raptor? Grab the template files here.

Loki has so many variants; it’s possible that any of us could be a Loki too. Let your friends and family know you’re part of the multiverse with some cardboard Loki horns. Raphael of Epic Cardboard Props is here to show us how to make Loki’s horned crown from a spare shipping box. Grab the template here.

Korean artist Lee Ji-hee created this incredibly intricate papercraft replica of the original Heidelberg Letterpress. She made the sculpture from paper and corrugated cardboard, to celebrate the history of the printing industry in Seoul, South Korea. Find more of the artist’s awesome work in her Behance portfolio.

The gigantic Switch Axe from Monster Hunter would likely be impossible to wield in real life. To solve this problem, Crafty Transformer built a lightweight replica of the transforming weapon out of cardboard, complete with the ability to convert from a sword to an axe. Though we don’t recommend lighting this one on fire.