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Last week, boys, I told you how to make a very simple kite. Now for a
few variations from the usual commonplace plan. There are a number of
novel designs in the way of kites that it only requires a little
ingenuity to carry out.
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Suppose that you want your kite for a travelling companion; It would be
a very awkward piece of baggage, would it not? Well, you can make a very
good kite of the shape shown in the illustration, covered with muslin,
and the frame made to work upon a pivot, so that it can be folded and
carried in a case. The muslin must be fastened permanently to one piece
of the frame only; it must be simply tied to the others with small
pieces of string. Thus, on being released, the laths may be worked
round on the pivot until they are in a straight line, and the muslin
wrapped round them. Sometimes they are made with only two pieces, an
upright and a cross-piece, but the principle is the same. If expense is
of no consideration, oiled silk is far better than muslin, since it is
so much lighter.
In China, the boys about the streets of Hong-Kong have a very amusing
and simply constructed kite, which can be made to perform the most
astonishing gyrations in the air. You might be inclined at first to
doubt if the thing could go up at all; but just give it a fair trial,
and see. You will be surprised at the ease with which it catches the air
and mounts upward.
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The kite is composed of two very thin slips of rattan, or bamboo,
properly smoothed, and a piece of colored tissue-paper cut in the form
shown in the above diagram. The middle stick is flat on one side, and
should be eighteen and a half inches long; the bow stick should be
twenty-five inches long, and nearly round. The paper should be cut to
measure fourteen inches on each side.
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Lay the middle stick, well covered on the flat side with good stiff
flour paste, diagonally across the paper, fastening it at both ends with
bands across, and let it stand till dry; then fold down the upper
corners of the paper over the bow stick, pasting it down firmly. Add a
small fan-shaped piece of tissue-paper for the "bob-tail," and the kite
is ready. Fasten one end of the "belly-band" to the two sticks where
they cross, and the other end about the same distance from the tail of
the kite. Be careful about adjusting the balance when tying on the
string, as if that is not right the kite will not fly upward.
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As to the decorations of his kite, each boy must follow his own fancy,
remembering that, since the effect is to be produced from a distance,
only the most glaring colors can be used, and that fine and finished
details will be of no use whatever. One of the prettiest kites now in
use is that which represents a hawk with outspread wings, and it can be
purchased at almost any toy store. But if any boy will be careful in his
work, he can easily make one. The frame must be made of cane or some
very light and flexible wood. When in the air it will sweep backward and
forward with movements exactly like those of a hawk when wheeling about
in search of prey.