The Rescue Dummy....Jack!

It has become readily apparent to Team Blackjack that it might be cool to have a rescue dummy that we could use to simulate a downed and wounded pilot, wounded comrade or even to represent a hostage.  So, we began construction of one.  This will be the ongoing record of the creation of Jack as he slowly approaches completion for use in our Operation: Grim Dragon.

	This is Jack's completed hip, legs and feet assembly.  The feet and shins are fashioned from 2" PVC pipe, the shins from 1.5" PVC pipe, and the hip is fashioned from 3" PVC pipe.
	This is Jack's ankle joint.  I gave him feet so that I might better be able to put boots on Jack and be able to tie them on securely once some padding/stuffing is added o the foot and shin.
	This is a close up of Jack's knee joint.  The articulation of the joint is created by cutting a notch in the larger pipe to give the smaller pipe room to swivel through the normal range of motion for a knee.
	A front close-up of the knee joint showing the bolt and nut assembly that creates the joint.
	This is 1/8" plastic-coated nylon cord that is used to create the actual hip and shoulder joints on Jack.
	This is another picture of Jack's hip/leg/foot assembly.
	Jack's assembled arm, showing the flexed elbow joint.
	Another shot of the arm assembly with flexed elbow.
	This is a section of 4" Flex pipe that I used for Jack's spine.  I will be drilling holes in the appropriate areas of this pipe to mount the hips and shoulders in.  Once this is done I will crop the spine at an appropriate length to create the neck.
	A picture of one of Jacks arm assemblies before being put together.  Each of Jack's elbow, knee and ankle joints are created basically the same.  The larger pipe of the joint has a notch cut out (using a Dremel* tool)  which will allow the smaller pipe to slide in from the front.  It is not necessary for the cut to be precise, just large enough for the smaller pipe to have a free range of movement.  The notch should be about two to two and a half times the width of the notch to provide the right range of motion.  Then both pipes are drilled with a 1/4" drill bit.  Once through, I moved the bit around a little to make the holes just a tad larger than 1/4".  Once the holes are drilled then I put the pipes together and insert a 1/4" x 2.5" machine bolt through the entire joint.  Add a lock washer and then the appropriate 1/4" nut. Tighten the nut down fairly tight but not so tight that you will crack the PVC.  The lock washer should keep the nut from backing off of the bolt.  The nut should be placed to the inside side of the joint.  If you want, you can then cut off the little excess of bolt that comes through the joint.

*Thank God for man's best friend...The Dremel Tool!!!

More will be coming as I continue to work on Jack.