Is it possible to make life-size mannequins using paper mache?

How to make a paper mache ukulele?

• For a project I have to make an instrument. I am choosing to make a paper mache ukulele. Any ideas for how to make the base of the ukulele, the neck, and the part for the tuning. I was thinking of using cardboard and masking tape. Also, what to make the strings out of? I was thinking of using rubber bands, or wires? They actually have to make notes. Thanks.

• Answer:

  Using cardboard and masking tape is the tried and true method of making small to medium paper mache objects. Use Chicken wire to create the skeleton of really large pieces. Use a flattened tube for the neck. There may be a problem getting sound out of paper mache. It's soft and thick and soft and thick tends to mute vibrations. Real ukuleles and guitars are constructed so that the body of the instrument amplifies the vibrations of the strings. I don't think paper mache will amplify much. You might try using Carpenter's Glue (cheap like white glue but it dries really hard and brittle) instead of paste and giving it plenty of time to dry between layers. Buy Carpenter's Glue at any hardware or lumber store. No matter what you decide to use for strings, don't forget to reinforce the neck especially where it meets the body - maybe with some sort of stick like a piece of flat moulding - otherwise the stress from the tight strings will warp the neck, maybe even break it. You could use a heavy-duty staple gun, a couple of thin bolts and nuts or your Carpenter's glue to attach it inside the cardboard. Once the paper mache covers everything and is dried nothing is going to warp the neck. Strings....tight wire will work. If it's OK with the rules for making the instrument, you could construct a form out of moulding that you could stretch the wires on. I'm thinking along the lines of making some kind of structure to hold the wires using the neck stick I mentioned above with a cross piece at the bottom to hold the end of the wire(s). You might have only one nail at the top of the neck and run all the strings from it. (Your teacher doesn't expect fine tuning, I hope;-) They have to be stretched really tightly to vibrate and make sound. If you could possibly find some softer kind of wire, it would work OK and be easily stretched. You can't use regular galvanized wire. It's too stiff and doesn't stretch. Sometimes craft stores carry jewelry wire on spools in different colors and sizes that's soft and might work OK. This sounds like a fun and challenging project. Good Luck! Additional: I just remembered that my cheap ukulele has nylon strings. You could use nylon fishing line for the strings, too.