From moss Fri Sep 18 14:43:45 1992
From: moss@essence.cvs.rochester.edu (Larry Moss)
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1992 14:43:45 EDT
X-Mailer: Mail User's Shell (7.2.1 12/20/90)
To: balloon@gawain.cif.rochester.edu
Subject: airplane
Status: OR
It's been a while since I've posted anything, but no one else has
either. Maybe this will stir things up?
This summer I definitely fell in love with large sculptures. Here's one
that I've been meaning to write up for a while. I'm feeling frustrated
enough with work right now that this seems like a great time to do it.
If anyone else has any other large sculptures, please post them, or at
least ideas or books that they can be found in.
This is a very simple thing to make. It just won't be very easy to draw.
The airplane requires 4 260's. Fill the first balloon, leaving about a
3-inch tail. The second balloon should be filled almost completely. We
want this to be as long as possible, but it should be soft enough at the
ends to make a couple of twists. What I do is wrap 2 fingers around the
nozzle end of the balloon as I blow it up so that there's a little
unfilled area in the balloon. (there are other techniques for getting
the balloon to start filling in sections other than right at the nozzle.
Anyone care to explain a favorite method?). I then leave about the same
amount of space at the tail end of the balloon.
The balloons now get twisted together at their centers. That is not the
center of the inflated portion. that's the center of the balloon. Find
the center by folding the balloon in half so that the ends meet.
balloon 1 (with 3 inch tail):
_____________
center -> / ____________)
\__________)===
balloon 2 (with space at each end):
__________
center -> / _________)=
\__________)=
result:
/\
| |
|2 |
| |
_______| |_____
(___1____><______)==
^ | | ^
| | | |
A | | B
| |
\/
In the above picture, points A and B mark the next twist. The scale is
off quite abit though. That twist should be about 4 inches from the
center twist. The loop formed by twisting those pieces together is where
the wings will be slid in later.
I'm not sure I can draw the rest of this with ASCII characters so I'll
just draw a diagram showing where the twists will go. Numbers in the
following picture refer to a section of balloon. Sections 1 and 2 are
from balloon 1. Sections 3 and 4 are from balloon 2. Letters are where
twists will go.
/\
| |
| | <-- C
E | |
| |3 |
V | |
___________| |_________
(_______1____><____2_____)==
^ | | ^
| | | |
A |4 | B
| |
| | <-- D
| |
\/
At this point A and B should already be twisted together. Sections 1, 3
and 4 should be twisted together at C, D, and E. E should be about 2
inches from the end of section 1. 3 and 4 shoudl extend a couple of
inches further than 1 since there was more air in that balloon to begin
with. In other words, the section of balloon from teh center to points
C, D, and E should be the same length. Hmm, maybe I will try this:
________________
(______3_________\
_(__1_=(_5_)(_2_|
(______4_________/
^
|
C,D,E
That looks real confusing since sections 2 and 5 overlap on 1 in tis
picture. 5 is the remaining portion of 2 after it gets twisted into 1
(above). Those 3 long bubbles form the body of the plane.
__ ____________
(7_)(__3_________\
(6)(1_=(_5_)(_2_|
(8_)(__4_________/
^
|
C,D,E
To help you get oriented, 6 is the tail fin. 7 and 8 are tail wings.
Here's the reason you left air at the ends of the balloon. I like to
fold 7 and 8 over to form better looking wings (basically ear twists).
Bubble 5 will be used to form struts and wheels. Do a pop twist with
that section. That's one large bubble (~3 inches), 3 small bubbles,
another large bubble and twisst back into the start of section 5.
Section 5 blown up:
__ <-- points A and B from earlier
/ \
/ /\ \
\/ \/
(_)__(_) <-- ear twist these bubbles
(__) <-- pop this one
now all you're missing is the wings and propeller. Wings are easy. Take
one 260 filled almost completely, leaving only enough of a tail to be
able to tie it to the nozzle. Fold it, but don't twist anything so that
it looks like the following.
________________________
/ ______________________ \
\__________)(____________/
^
|
This is where it's tied together.
Slide that into the only logical place for it on the body of the plane.
That's just forward of the struts in the small loop formed by one of your
early twists. the knot on the wings should be facing the back of the
plane. All structural components of the body of the plane should be
above the wings (only section 2 should be below it and holding it in
place). To make it look a bit better, bend the wings upward at the
ends. I basically roll the wings around the top of the plane and almost
into each other so that when I let go they have kind of an upward curl to
them. (Gives it kind of a Satruday morning cartoon look).
The propeller is as simple as the wings. Fill the last balloon forming
about a 10 inche bubble. Tie the nozzle to the base of the tail. Then
twist the round bubble in half forming two round bubble.
\
\o <-- nozzle and tail get tied together.
/ \
( () )
\__/
^
|
twist down the middle
Attach this to the front of the plane with the remaining tail. I won't
try to explain how to tie it on.
As always, let me know if anything needs clarification.
Larry
