Читать книгу One Minute Paper Airplanes - Andrew Dewar - Страница 6

Tools and Techniques

stapler

ruler

craft knife (and cutting mat)

tweezers

scissors

white or stick glue (optional)

Use a ruler when you fold for crisp, straight creases that don’t weaken the paper.

Once you’ve creased the paper, use your fingers to gently fold it to just the right angle.

Gently bend the wings with your fingers to “train” camber (curvature) into the paper.

You can push out the larger parts with your fingers, but the paper will be less likely to crease or tear if you use a craft knife to cut them loose. Cut slits carefully with scissors.

Hold the layers of paper tightly when stapling, and use the marks as guides. But don’t push too hard or too suddenly when stapling, or the staple will bend. Just operate the stapler normally and the staple will punch right through all the paper.

Carefully trim the flash from around the edges of parts you have pushed out. This will make them look cleaner and fit together better.

Don’t worry if you accidentally tear the paper or cut the wrong thing. In most cases you can patch up the cut from the inside with a small scrap of paper. Butt the two edges together, and glue the patch behind it, or between two parts. If the patch is small, it won’t affect the balance.

Tweezers are great for holding and folding smallish parts, and firmly pressing down the ends of the staples.

Just enough glue.

Too much glue.

If you don’t have a suitable stapler, you can also use glue to build these planes. Use a toothpick to spread a drop of white school glue evenly over the whole surface to be glued. Very little is needed; in fact, a transparent film sticks much better than a thick layer. A little glue will make strong, clean joints. Too much glue will warp the paper and ooze out at the edges, and make your plane look messy and grimy. And messy, warped planes don’t fly very well. I recommend that you practice with scraps of paper before gluing actual parts.