Piranha Pipes Kart From Mario Kart Double Dash.

Piranha pipes if my nephews favorite kart in Mario kart double dash so I decided to make him one using cardboard & other simple items laying around the house.

Step 1: Making the Pipes Body.

I started out making the large front pipe & smaller rear pipe. The front pipe I used a large lid for the upper part & hot glued cardstock around the rim to give it a smooth surface to paint. I used a compass and marked out 2 circles smaller than the lid on cardboard & cut those out. I then hot glued cardstock around those 2 corrugated cardboard circles to make the base of the pipe. The upper cardboard circle needed to be on the top because the lid would be glued to it, the bottom cardboard circle had to come up far enough for the wheel axles to pass & give room for the gold colored metal springs. I made the rear pipe the same except instead of a lid for the top I used cardboard since I had no lid the proper size. I then used a cardboard roll from a aluminum foil box connect the 2 pipes. I held it up to the pipes and cut out the half moons of the proper size for each end so it fit nicely against the pipes & placed a note inside before hot gluing it all up solid.

Step 2: Cutting Notches for the Axles & Springs.

Next I took 4 gold spring clips off some old fancy ink pens I had laying around & fitted them up into the bottom of the pipes & cut the excess metal off. I then notched the spots on the pipes where the axles would pass.

Step 3: Painting the Body.

Now the body was ready to paint. I used several coats of spray paint to make sure to get good coverage.

Step 4: Assembling Axles & Wheels.

Now it was time to make the axles. I used the black tubes from inside the ink pens for the axles and water bottle caps for the wheels. I used hot glue to hold the wheels in place. I then used a hole punch to make the holes in cardboard pieces I cut to fit under the pipes for the axles to pass through making sure they were the proper height. I made a cut in the axle hole so the axle could slip right down into the hole and bent card back in place which would later have a piece glued on bottom holding all in place. I made small washers out of old plastic card to slip over the inner axles & hot glued those to the axles to keep the wheel axles straight on the kart.

Step 5: Adding the Gold Springs & Bottom Covers.

Next I fitted the metal spings in place above each axle close to the wheel & hot glued those in place. Once I had the axles turning smooth I cut the bottom covers out of cardstock & hot glued those in place on bottom.

Step 6: Painting the Wheels & Seating Areas Black, Making the Small Front Pipe Bumper.

I used acrylic gloss black brush paint to paint the wheels and upper pipes seating area black. I also used some of the same paint in green to do some touch up work. I used aluminum craft wire as a support for the front pipe bumper. I simple cut a cardboard drinking straw the right width for the pipe bumper and to make the end flanges I cut small strips of paper & wrapped them around hot gluing those in place. I used hot glue on the ends of the straw to keep it all secure & painted it green with the acrylic paint & the ends where I hot glued black. I drilled 2 small holes to secure the aluminum bumper wire to the front of the kart.

Step 7: Making Steering Wheel, Handle Bars,exhaust Pipes, & Finishing Touches.

I made the steering wheel by cutting 2 small circles out of cardstock & hot glued them together. I used the end of one of the pen springs I had cut off as excess from one of the springs to use as the steering column. I drilled a hole in the steering wheels and upper front part of kart to pass the steering column through & hot glued it in place. I used craft wire & more of the cardboard straw to make the large and small handlebars for the rear rider. I drilled holes in body to secure the craft wire bars in place & added glue. Then I got 2 small black pieces that were inside the ink pens to use as the rear exhaust pipes. I drill holes out and glued those in place. I then painted all the little details on like the gold around the outer wheels, the red on inner wheels, gold in center of the wheels, gold on steering wheel, red on handlebar pads, & red on exhaust tips.