Tom's Miniature Kite Page
This Site is slowly being moved to
where I have put pages showing details of my miniatures, links to retailers and other kite sites, and a long rant about some of the things I do to make a miniature kite.
Okay, it's not a miniature.
Welcome to my Kite page.
This kite was my first effort in ripstop. It's a George Peters design that came from the book 'Kiteworks' by Maxwell Eden. It took me three months to cut and sew in a small apartment, while living in the Seattle area.
The first year I competed at Washington State International Kite Festival in Long Beach, Washington, this kite brought me a third place in the intermediate figure and novelty division. That same year, it won people's choice at the Lilac City Wind Chasers' annual All City Fly. It was in it's sixth season of showing off, by then.
I like this kite, so included it at the top of my web page.
Diamond (Eddy) kite
These are made of a Japanese tissue with excellent properties for miniatures.The tissue weighs three grams per square meter and is the strongest I have found for such a light tissue. It also has an extremely low bleed when printed, or colored by hand. It does however, react to water by puckering up. None of the inks I use on them are water based, any longer. Some parts are done with soft, colored pencils and others are done with Berol fibertip pens. Recently, I have been fooling around with printing this tissue in my DeskJet printer. I know, I know...not a good idea. But it's working pretty darn good!
Bamboo
The reverse side of this Eddy shows the bamboo spars and reinforcements at the corners. The bamboo is hand split and shaved, which is a royal pain and perhaps, a skill in itself. I use barbeque skewers, literally making toothpicks from trees. Splitting and carving bamboo is a subject that would require an entire page in itself, so I won't go into it here. It's a nice way to spend a day on the deck, while watching the birds.
I steam and curve the horizontal spar to give it a dihedral that will hold, even after being stored in a book. That eliminates the need for a line to tension the spar. Laziness is the true Mother of Invention.
Dragonfly kite
These are an improved version of a kite that took second in the '99 W.S.I.K.F. figure and novelty master's division. The original had bamboo spars and was placed for auction at the World Kite Musem's annual fundraiser. They are now made of mylar and cellophane, with monofilament spars. The spars are straightened and formed using heat, so they will hold their shape under most conditions. These miniatures fly very much like a dragonfly, dipping and hovering, depending on the wind conditions.
Sode kite
This is another tissue and bamboo kite, of a different style, patterned after the Japanese Sode kite. The sode kite resembles a Japanese kimono, the word "sode" meaning sleeve of a kimono. This kite is built and flown to ensure the health and success of a newborn boy. These are 3 1/4"wide, by 3 7/8" high. The red one took a first place at the '99 W.S.I.K.F. and was placed for auction at the World Kite Museum's annual fund raiser. I have begun doing these with a graphics program and printing them on tissue with my desk jet. Hardly a traditional way of making them.
Fairy kite
This is Teena.
Here we are. Teena and I. I finally started working at getting her body into ripstop. Thanks for your patience and forgive the lack of quality in the pic. Made with a cheap webcam.
Let's go fly a few. Click on the right brain to go to the "Flying Page".
Electronic mail address
tom@littlekites.com
