Gizmos

( 9 )

Overview

Everything You Need to Make Amazing Paper Machines!

Automata are animated toys that use several basic mechanisms to come alive—and they’re made completely out of paper! Using the ingenious punch-out designs included in Gizmos, you can assemble six enchanting automata by designer Rob Ives—and when you’ve mastered the fundamental techniques, you can create new designs of your own. Gizmos includes:

  • A pre-made pop-up frog ready to jump right out of the box!
  • Pre-stamped punch-out parts for two snap-up models that are perfect for first-time builders
  • ...
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More About This Book

Overview

Everything You Need to Make Amazing Paper Machines!

Automata are animated toys that use several basic mechanisms to come alive—and they’re made completely out of paper! Using the ingenious punch-out designs included in Gizmos, you can assemble six enchanting automata by designer Rob Ives—and when you’ve mastered the fundamental techniques, you can create new designs of your own. Gizmos includes:

  • A pre-made pop-up frog ready to jump right out of the box!
  • Pre-stamped punch-out parts for two snap-up models that are perfect for first-time builders
  • Complete punch-out parts to create six full-color, fully animated paper machines: Die Fledermaus, Mouthy Moose, Schrödinger’s Cat, Shrimp Boat, Surf Bunny, and Marching Robot
  • A 144-page book with an introduction to automata and the simple mechanisms—cranks, cams, and levers—that give them life; easy-to-follow instructions to make eight Rob Ives models; and handy reusable templates for each of the model parts, to get you started on future projects
Gizmos is a fascinating way to learn about basic mechanical principles as well as a guide to paper-crafting techniques that will enable you to design and build paper toys that capture the imagination!

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780760793763
  • Publisher: Sterling
  • Publication date: 8/30/2008
  • Pages: 144
  • Product dimensions: 13.00 (w) x 9.00 (h) x 1.80 (d)
Customer Reviews
Average Rating 3.5
( 9 )

Rating Distribution

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  • Posted May 30, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Fun for future engineers

    I gave this to my nephew, who at 9 feels he has outgrown Legos but still loves to put things together, and he had a great time making his gizmos. Of course, they work better if you read and follow the directions, which he did not bother to do at first and so messed up a couple, but I hope he learned a lesson with that, too. Heavy paper doesn't stand up to heavy used, so be warned that nothing in the box will last for years, or possibly even months.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted February 11, 2009

    Incredible fun and value!

    The models you will make with this kit are beautifully designed. Amazing interactive wonders that are incredibly fun to make, play with and display.
    A bargain at twice the price!

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted January 28, 2009

    Rob Ives is a Paper Machine Genius

    Here, in Gizmos, you have complex mechancical paper automata that will delight any mechanically minded individual. They are pre-cut...pre scored... and highly pre-scribed. I cannot imagine the time and thought that went into the double sided colour printing as well as the allowances for die-cuttting and scoring that went into creating this masterpiece. Building these models is not only delightful, but well worth any modellers time. If you are a paper modeller - this is a must have collection. If you are not, this is the definitive work for paper automata.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 22, 2008

    this is a great gift

    it is a very reasonable price. I built it but it takes alot of patience

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 12, 2010

    hey they actually work

    I purchased this kit to occupy my time while my husband was away on a business trip. Usually i like origami but i wanted to try something different. I loved this kit. the models were really fun to make and not too difficult. The instructions were a little lacking, but not impossible to comprehend, and the lack of information gives you the opportunity to really understand how the mechanisms work in order to complete the models.

    The kit includes the pieces for each model which you punch out and glue together and a book with a brief introduction to mechanics, instructions for each model, mostly what order to glue the pieces together, and patterns for the models which you can copy to make different sizes, or to use as a template to make your own creations.

    This kit was a really fun introduction to paper automations, and would make a great gift for a quirky friend, and it's not to messy so you could make them on a car trip as well. Oh and whem my husband returned he was extremely impressed with my hard work and said "that's paper?!"

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 25, 2010

    Gizmos is fun.

    If you like to make/build things, this is for you.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 6, 2009

    Gizmos is frustrating and disappointing rather than fun.

    This is a neat idea, but the instructions are insufficient to make the gizmos accurately. In the scored paper, some scores are not complete. Neither the written instructions nor the pictures are sufficient to allow a reasonably intelligent person to complete the design. I was looking forward to bit of fun, but found frustration and disappointment, so I threw it in the trash.

    0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 8, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted June 13, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

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