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1. Carefully trace the wing and elevator shapes on
the
inside of a meat tray as shown. Be sure the front
edges of the wings go about 2/3 of the way up the curved
sides of the tray. Check the bottom of the tray and
avoid any logo found there. You may need two trays. Cut out
the wings and elevator with the hobby knife or scissors. Use
the emery board to smooth the cut edges and sand off the pen
lines.
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2. Using a black marker and templates, mark the locations
of the rib lines on both sides of each wing and
elevator sections. Make two sets of marks, one on each edge.
Connect the marks to make the rib lines. Use a permanent
ultra fine black marker and a straight edge made from a
manila folder (so the end can be bent to conform to the
rounded shape of the foam).
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3. Now cut out the center of the lower wing only as shown
by the dotted lines on that template. Cut two toothpicks in
half and sharpen the cut ends of three of them. Dip the ends
in glue and stick them in the cut edges to join the lower
wing halves, leaving a 1.5 cm. gap as shown.
(If the foam is thin, glue the toothpicks to the
underside of the wing instead.)
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4. Use the wing template and a sharp toothpick to mark
the holes for the spars on the top surface of the lower wing
and the bottom surface of the upper wing. Note that the
front edges of the wings curve down.
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5. Dip toothpicks in glue and insert them in the spar
holes now marked in the lower wing. Try not to push them all
the way through the wing. Be sure they are standing up as
straight as possible. The upper wing in the front of this
picture is upside down.
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6. Now, with both the upper and lower wings upside down
(the edges should be curving up at this point), insert the
back row of spars into the underside of the top wing. Use
the marked holes as a general guide, but keep the spars
straight and evenly spaced. Put a little glue on each to
keep them in place as shown in the picture. Now join the
front spars to the top wing, remembering to keep them
straight and fasten them with dabs of glue. This takes
some effort to get everything in the right place and is
easier to do with two people.
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7. Join two toothpicks side-by-side so the overall length
is 11 cm.. When the glue is set cut each to a length of 9 cm
and then glue the cut-off end back on, but at a 90 degree
angle as shown. You will need to make two of these
skids.
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8. Turn the wing assembly upside down and glue the skids
on either side of the opening in the lower wing. The skids
should overlap the front and middle toothpicks that join the
wing halves and should extend out beyond the front (curved
edge) the the lower wing.
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9. Turn the assembly back over so it is right-side up and
cut two pieces to brace between the two skids and glue one
at the end and one at the middle. Cut two more pieces for
upright support for the elevator the same length as those at
the end of the skid and glue them sticking up at the middle
crossbrace.
Also make two braces to go from the upper wing to the
elevator by joining two toothpicks side-by-side with glue
and then cutting to a length of 6.5 cm.
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10. Place glue on the ends of the four uprights and then
push on the elevator. Also put glue on both ends of the
upper braces, push them first into the center of the top of
the elevator along the rib lines and then into the front
edge of the upper wing as shown. (If the foam is thin,
glue the braces to the underside of the upper wing
instead.)
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11. (Optional) You may add figures by cutting, swapping,
and gluing parts of small, plastic army men which are about
5 cm tall. In the figure to the right, the green men show
the original shapes and the tan men are in the final shapes.
ADULTS: A hobby knife was used to trim away the guns and
helmets. Using the knife and glue gun, the arms and legs can
be cut and swapped or repositioned. Five-minute epoxy works
better.
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