An award-winning amateur toy maker who has spent years turning used drinking straws into toy insects, has taught himself how to create over 100 kinds of insect-shaped toys, from a praying mantis to a beetle. He can also fashion toy cars out of used Tetra Pak cartons.
A straw can be more than just a straw, and once Lee Chun-hsing adds a dash of his creativity, a simple straw can be transformed into a life-like insect. With his skilled fingers, Lee knows how to make at least 100 kinds of insect, from the praying mantis, with a complicated structure, to a scarab.
Lee, 48, was born to a poor family and grew up making his own toys. He majored in electronics, but away from the office he always liked to put his dexterous hands to good use. About 20 years ago he learned how to make ribbon flowers as well as how to weave, then 10 years ago he bought a couple of toy shrimp made of straws. The toys looked far from realistic so he took them apart and then reassembled them to make them look better. From that day on, he has used his free time to study the structure of insects from illustrated books and then create life-like straw insects.
Lee is also skilled at making paper silhouettes and his postcards once won him an award in a national competition. He says that the amount of straws that we throw away after using them only once is unbelievable. They don’t decompose and produce dioxin when burned, so it’s environmentally friendly to recycle them into toys.
Lee says that he makes the insects using traditional weaving techniques, and can make an insect just by pressing, cutting, folding, setting and gluing.
He has also turned his hand to making toys out of Tetra Pak cartons and can make pen holders, toy cars, trucks and trailers out of empty aluminum foil boxes. He has recently started experimenting with making caravans.
He has also put solar cells on his Tetra Pak cars, and after tests and modifications they run pretty well, and children seem to appreciate them.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY TAIJING WU)
一名得過獎的玩具達人多年來利用吸管做成玩具昆蟲，從螳螂到甲蟲等上百種昆蟲都難不倒他，還會把利樂包變成時尚的玩具車。
吸管不單是吸管。「吸管昆蟲」達人李俊興玩創意，讓吸管變成上百種栩栩如生的昆蟲，從高難度的螳螂到大兜蟲，組成一支蟲蟲部隊。
四十八歲的李俊興學電子，卻有一雙巧手，小時家裡沒錢，他就DIY玩具，二十年前學摺緞帶花，學會編織技巧，直到十年前買了兩隻吸管蝦，看著不像蝦的吸管蝦，忍不住動手拆解重組。之後他便利用閒暇時間創作吸管昆蟲，以昆蟲圖鑑掌握比例與結構，開始製作他的蟲蟲部隊。
手巧的李俊興也擅長紙雕，曾以自製的紙雕做成賀年卡拿下國內一項賀年卡大賽優選。李俊興說，用完即丟的吸管數量驚人，塑膠材質百年不爛，燃燒又有戴奧辛毒害，因此再利用成為最環保的方式。
李俊興表示，吸管工藝是結合傳統編織方法，經過壓、剪、折、套及黏等步驟，組合成吸管昆蟲。
除了吸管昆蟲，他更將觸角延伸到利樂包，從筆筒到玩具車、卡車、聯結車等都難不倒他，最近更開始試做利樂包休旅車。
他還把太陽能光電板運用在利樂包玩具車上，經過測試及修改，速度一馬當先，深受孩子們的喜愛。
（自由時報記者侯千絹）
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