I swear, by the time I get this monstrosity of a puzzle completed and mounted, I’m going to be a jigsaw puzzle mounting master!  I have changed and revised my strategy several times, and just when I think I’ve finally found the best solution, another obstacle presents itself.

As I last posted, I was getting ready to put the contact paper down on the back of Section 1 so that I could easily move it off the main puzzling board and put it somewhere else to allow me full access to a “blank canvas” puzzling board to work on Section 2.  Well, the contact paper went on pretty easily, Randy helped me, and we were done in about 15 minutes or so.  The problem is it’s not that sticky!  We pressed it down firmly, and I later went back over the whole thing with a rolling pin.  It sticks to the puzzle okay, but I can tell when I try to lift one corner of the puzzle that if I were to try and flip the whole section over again, pieces would definitely come loose and potentially fall off.

I guess I was just expecting the contact paper to be way more sticky than it is.  So, now I have the dilema of not being able to turn it back over face up as it’s not that sturdy.  Grrrr….

My new strategy / solution is to keep Section 1 where it is….flipped on its back with the contact paper on, and build Section 2 on top of the backside of Section 1.  At least this strategy takes care of one of the issues from before in that I don’t have to see the picture of Section 1 underneath where I’m trying to build Section 2 so I won’t have issues with my eyes bothering me not knowing if the piece I’m looking at is my new Section 2, or something still showing from Section 1.

I think once I’m done with Section 2, I will attempt to do the same thing that I did with Section 1 – “cut” it into mini sections, move it onto foam board, flip it over, and put it back on the table directly on top of Section 1.  Then I will put contact paper on this Section and move on to Section 3.  I foresee being able to do this with each section being built on top of the backside of the previous section.   When I’m finished with all three remaining sections, I will have to figure out the best way to attach each section to the foam board while still leaving myself a way to connect each section together.  I think what I’m going to attempt to do is put the foam board on the back of each section leaving enough of a gap near the edge where it connects to the previous section.  Since my foam board pieces will all be the same thickness, I should still be able to connect the sections together and then cut a narrow foam board strip to cover the connecting pieces once it’s been put together.  At least for the moment this is what I plan on doing….who knows how many more times that will change between now and the time I finish this beast!  LOL