Build a Massive Transistor That Actually Works!

When I heard about the Big And Small Instructables Contest, I was immediately hooked. I thought this was a wonderful contest theme, and could not wait to get started on my entry. I chose a giant transistor because I thought it would be a fun and unique addition to this contest.

Silver sharpie

Hot glue

Cardboard

Black paint

Box cutter

Transistor

Jumper wires

Cut two 5.5x5 inch pieces of cardboard out, and then cut out two semicircles on either side with a diameter of 2 inches about 3 inches from the top of the cardboard rectangle as shown in image 1. Next, glue your transistor in the middle of one of your two pieces of cardboard as shown in the second image.

Next, take three of your jumper wires and attach them to each pin of the transistor as shown in the first image for this step. After that, proceed to glue down three 3.5x0.5 inch cardboard rectangles to the piece of cardboard with the attached transistor. I prefer glueing them down on the side with the transistor, though it does not matter too much. Next, glue the jumper wires along the prongs of the transistor, with just the pin at the end of the wires sticking out as shown in image 3. After that, cover each wire with a popsicle sticks to provide structural integrity to the prongs.

Cut out two 2.5x1.5 inch pieces of cardboard and glue them vertically onto the piece with the prongs as shown in the first image. Next, cut out more pieces of cardboard to basically create a 1.5 inch high wall around the transistor as in image 2. Next, glue on the second rectangle with two semicircles cut out of it on top of the wally to basically create a weird shaped box around the transistor. Next, cut a 5x4 3/4 inch rectangle with its corners cut off, and glue it on as shown in the third image. Then cut a hole 1 inch in diameter directly in the middle of the piece you just glued on as shown also in the fourth image.

Decorate the transistor with the black paint and silver metallic sharpie to make it really come to life! I used three coats of black paint to get a very even finish, making it look a bit more realistic.