( CNN ) -- Daniel Agdag works with a limited arsenal of tools : a surgical scalpel , some cardboard , every so often a circular cutter and lots of glue . But from that humble toolkit , he makes sculptures that are mind-bendingly complex . For the past 10 years , the Melbourne , Australia artist has been building intricate cardboard sculptures in the form of whimsical flying machines and rickety roller coasters . They look like pencil sketches brought to life , and with good reason . Long before Agdag began crafting his cardboard pieces , he was drawing them in his notebook . He 'd sketch crazy roller coasters and off-beat architectural structures . One day he visited his neighbor ( an architect ) , who showed him models made from boxboard . `` I said , 'Can I have some of that cardboard , ' and from there I started creating my roller coasters , '' he recalls . `` All of a sudden what was on the page became this really elaborate 3-D sculpture . '' It was n't all of a sudden , of course . Constructing the piecesis a painstaking process that typically takes one to three months . Nowadays , Agdag has enough experience to forego the sketching process and build as he goes . He 'll think up some strange contraption and simply begin cutting pieces of cardboard and piecing them together with AVP glue . He prefers working with the scalpel ( `` I go through four or five a day , '' he says ) and uses only three gauges of board : 1mm , .8 mm and .2 mm . Many of Agdag 's pieces are marvel of balance . In one , a crepe-like balloons balances on top of fragile unicycle . In another a house sits high on a system of thin-as-toothpick scaffolding . Each of these pieces has glue , yes , but they also have built-in structural integrity , much in the way an architect uses hidden elements to build a robust building . This requires a huge amount of trial and error . `` I have to make it and tear it apart and then throw it away and start again , '' he says . `` It 's very much like drawing and rubbing out [ erasing ] . So even though they 're technically sculptural , I feel like they 're drawings in cardboard . '' For now , the sculptures are moderately sizedâ€ ” they range from around 20 to 30 inches tall . But Agdag has plans to make them even bigger . He has an idea to make a DC9 plane with a 7Ã—10 meter wingspan . `` I want to make all the ribs , all the componentry , the skeletal structure all the way through , `` he says . `` It 's going to take a lot of cardboard . '' Read more from WIRED : . Why are we so fat ? The multimillion-dollar scientific quest to find out . Unexpected shooting targets used by the world 's armies . Someone reinvented the butter knife and it is amazing . How to fix your iPhone 's annoying autocorrect . Subscribe to WIRED magazine for less than $ 1 an issue and get a FREE GIFT ! Click here ! Copyright 2011 Wired.com .
Daniel Agdag has spent the last years making sculptures out of cardboard . Principles of Aviation , his most recent exhibition , features fantasy flying machines . His skips the sketching process , and builds as he goes .